Power Rangers Jurassic Knights: The Son of Drakkon
by Super Shadowhenshin
Summary: The Praetor is gone, but the Earth is far from safe. The Knights will have to face more interdimensional invaders that threaten conquer the planet. Meanwhile, Lucius joins the former Lord Zedd on his quest to create a new fighting force. Everything will change for Jace Oliver when he learns the truth of his existence, and the truth of the power sitting patiently inside of him.
1. The Truth

True danger often dwells in darkness. From the monsters feared as children, watching silently through the closet door cracked open, to a malfunction in your car's brakes, waiting until the only thing between you and a pile of scrap metal is a push on a device that'll fail when you need it the most.

By that same logic, one of the Multiverse's most dangerous threats sat patiently in the mind of a seventeen-year-old boy. A smile on its aetherial face because it knew that soon enough fate would allow it the chance to unleash itself and enact its ambitions.

Jace frowned as he walked out his front door and into the street. Why did it always seem like school started on the best day of the summer?

He was dressed in a red checkered shirt and trap shorts. He'd let his dark hair grow out and he'd shaved the left half off. He looked less like a Red Ranger and more kid trying to sneak into a punk show.

After a short walk to the high school, he entered the building and moved to the commons to rendezvous with his long-time best friend, fresh from his vacation to the Wind Ninja Academy. He spotted Rylan sitting with a girl that Jace didn't recognize. Rylan himself had tanned quite a bit and was dressed in a blue button-up and some khakis. The girl was wearing a yellow and white t-shirt that contrasted against her fairish tawny skin. Her almond eyes followed Rylan's gaze as it connected with Jace's.

"You look kinda like the DJ they hired for prom last year. That Skrillix wannabe." Rylan said with a grin as Jace sat down next to him at the round table.

"Bro don't even go there, you look like you're cosplaying ," Jace shot back.

"Maybe it's because they're both Blue Rangers," The girl suddenly spoke.

Jace froze, feeling like he'd just been slapped in the back of the head with a math book. He then looked at Rylan, who didn't even seem remotely affected by such a blatant outing of his Ranger status.

Then he realized that must mean she's some extension of the Ranger family.

"So you went to the Anti-Verse right?" She asked Jace.

"Y-yeah," He said, first feeling nervous. Then getting lost in that sinking feeling he got every time he thought of the battle against Kaidio, his first actual kill, and his intense final confrontation against Lucius; where he was almost killed...

"So who are you exactly?" Jace asked, trying to escape the phantom of the scenes that flashed in his mind.

"Lisa Park," She said with a smile. Then after a few seconds of silence, she frowned, "Y'know… Like Adam Park… He was in the Anti-Verse too."

"Yeah, dude don't you remember?" Rylan with a half sarcastic, half cocky tone, "Old friend of both our dad's and former Ranger as well. Not that the two of those things aren't practically synonymous,"

Jace couldn't help but notice how much more confident Rylan seemed. He'd always struggled with anxiety and while it still seemed present it was almost shadowed by this his stature and swagger. It almost seemed like he was trying to _win _the conversation. And Jace didn't know how to feel about that.

"Oh yeah," Jace said, "I remember him. He was pretty low-key. He was apart of the rescue party that saved all of the kidnapped Rangers."

"Probably because my mom was there with him," Lisa said, "He can't have a heroic sacrifice while she's right there. She'd kick his ass."

Jace laughed, thinking back to Tanya's fiery tone as she said, _We have to save your dad...again. _He could just as easily imagine that she'd have grabbed Adam by the scruff of his Ranger suit and scolding him.

"Speaking of that," Lisa said, "I heard what happened to your dad's Master Morpher...that sucks." She spoke briefly, avoiding as many details as she could for Jace's benefit.

Not that he still didn't wince thinking about it.

"Yeah, well maybe it was time for him to retire," Jace said with a shrug, "Can't be a hero forever."

"He's still just as much a hero now," Rylan replied, looking almost offended by Jace's disrespect towards Tommy Oliver. "Hasn't he been working with J.J and Wes on some Ranger stuff? Like official Ranger stuff with the Silver Guardians?"

"Yeah, something like that," Jace said, "But I don't know a whole lot about it, both of them are gone for weeks at a time."

"Doesn't mean you can't ask when they're home," Rylan suggested.

Jace just glanced down at his phone, "He's busy…" He knew that was a transparent excuse, but he couldn't say what was really rattling around his head. _It seems like Dad only has time for J.J._

"Well anyway, thanks again. Hopefully, when the world is in grave danger next week or whenever, you'll be there to keep him safe again," She said and stood up.

"Yeah for real," Jace said, "I'm so glad the summer was uneventful but maybe something can happen so I can skip English."

Lisa just laughed and walked off. Leaving Rylan with a shrewd expression on his face. "Don't jinx us."

"Calm down," Jace said and stood up. "We saved the multiverse. Anything that wants to show up can. I'm sure we got this."

"I just don't want to have that affecting my GPA so close to the end of our high school careers," Rylan muttered despite the fact Jace had both stopped listening and walked away.

* * *

There wasn't much Glyx wouldn't do for a quick buck. Mass murder, assassination, tax evasion, every crime was just another dollar sign in his eyes. So when the leader of his small guild came to the ship and asked him to rampage around a highly-populated area he didn't even think twice before downing the rest his ale and standing up.

Glyx was in his zone.

His wiry metal dreads swung around from side to side across his green helmet as he swung his ax into the hood of an oncoming car.

The man fell out of the freshly demolished car and screamed at the sight of Glyx.

Glyx didn't take offense to the fear instead it brought him great honor. He was a generation 3 Verox soldier, his green-plated body was a bizarre and complicated relationship between man and machine. He was built to strike fear into organic life-forms.

Glyx absorbed as much of the pandemonium as he could; he knew it would be short-lived.

"Nice Predator cosplay!" Jace Oliver exclaimed as he rushed to the scene, " care if I take a picture?"

Glyx would have smiled if his lips hadn't been replaced with a cold metal grill. When hearing of the Ranger's exploits he imagined them to be fearsome warriors, not children.

He pulled his two-bladed curved ax downwards, but a figure slipped between the two and intercepted.

Rylan's katana sparked when the ax was halted mid-swing by it.

"Good one," Jace said and summoned his blade, the red and gold saber Saba had transformed into when his father passed the weapon on. "But check out this," Jace said and cut into the Verox's chest piece with a powerful swing.

Glyx then extended two blades from his gauntlet and swung them into Jace. The Ranger flew backward as sparks escaped from his armor.

"You're lucky I skipped Calculus for this," Jace muttered. "Otherwise I'd be less patient with you."

"I have lunch right now," Rylan replied. "So I'm a little pissed."

"What did you say earlier? Don't jinx it." Jace said, grinning under his helmet. "Maybe you jinxed it."

"Of course…" the Blue Ranger replied.

Suddenly a second teleportation beam shot the ground and Jace nearly froze at the sight of the arrival.

The Dragon smiled at Jace in a warm and almost sincere way. Before summoning her red and silver armor.

Meanwhile, Glyx took his cue and charged right towards Rylan.

Jace parried both blades with Saba about as efficiently as he could. Meaning he was hit about every three swings.

"Why don't you show me what you demonstrated against Lucius?" She asked him.

Jace shivered as he remembered how helplessly the rage had overwhelmed him.

"No…" he muttered.

"Oh don't tell me you're going soft," she said and swung her swords into his exposed chest.

Jace recoiled back but the Dragon persisted. "What's wrong? Scared of what your old man left you?"

"What do you mean?" Jace asked. "What would you know about my dad?"

"I mean your real dad."

"Real dad..." Jace echoed and paused to look at The Dragon.

She returned the gesture, even lowering her blades.

"Oh, don't tell me," she said. "They haven't told you?"

"Told me what…?" Jace asked then shook his head. He kicked her back and raised Saba, shooting a beam that threw her to the ground.

But the Dragon laughed from the gutter, "That's precious…" she then jumped up to her feet and approached Jace. "If you wanna hear the story of your real father meet me here at ." She whispered before teleporting away.

Glyx looked back at the Blue Ranger, then down at his own damaged armor. "Well I guess I better go too," he muttered and teleported away.

Rylan then approached Jace, who was still blankly staring towards the spot where the Dragon had once been standing.

"That was weird," Rylan said.

"Yeah…" Jace replied, "You're telling me."

* * *

Trox sat in peaceful meditation. Or at the very least he _tried _to. But every time he closed his eyes and silence settled over his mind, thoughts drifted to the surface.

Astrid… a girl he'd wrongfully caught feelings for…

At least she was gone now. With the Praetor destroyed she'd left as well. But the bitter feelings remained, especially every time he thought about how she leaned against Jace on the journey home.

Still… he was the Guardian of the three Energems he had taken from Sentai 6, and while he only had two on the planet with him he still needed to take his duty seriously.

And a part of that duty was being as calm and emotionless as he could. He needed to be a blank canvas that the Energems could speak to if needed.

He forced his eyes closed, trying to remember the words of his mentor. _Your body is but a vessel that the Energems carry their will through_. He tried to welcome himself to that feeling again, as he had before he'd become over-encumbered with hundreds of other emotions.

Then he felt something. He winced and fell onto his back. He felt something akin to a hot knife stabbing through his skull. He stood up despite the feeling, rubbing the back of his blue-haired head. The feeling had been unmistakable, an Energem screamed through the void.

Trox walked out of the empty Oliver residence and slipped his crocs on before stepping out into the summer heat. Something was coming, he wasn't sure what, other than it was an Energem. It called for him unlike any of the others had.

It demanded him.

His feet carried him out of the city and to a small woodlot right across the highway that would melt into Mainstreet. He still didn't know what he was doing, or what he was looking for, but he knew that the Energem would make all of it clear.

Then it all became abundantly clear, as a streak of fire broke through the atmosphere and shot down to the ground below.

Trox remained unmoving, just watching patiently.

The large chunk of metal punched into the ground several feet from his body. The ground shook and several spots around the new crater had actually caught fire.

But Trox was only interested in investigating the soccer ball-sized orb.

He approached it, taking in as many details as he could. He couldn't figure out what species had created the object. It didn't seem ornate enough to be Eltarian or Triforian, but also seemed too advanced to be much else.

The fact that something of that size hadn't just burned up in the atmosphere was an astonishing feat in itself.

Then he felt it again, the head-splitting pain that traveled to the core of his skull. He put his hand to the object, forgetting it was probably hot enough to melt his flesh.

Yet it was cool to the touch and began to hum in his presence.

A small opening on the orb snapped open, and a navy colored crystal popped out.

Trox felt his insides turn to mush. It couldn't be… He examined if as carefully as he could.

It was… despite all of the legends he'd been fed by his teachers. It hadn't been destroyed, hadn't been erased by time.

The Dark Energem was right in front of him.

And it _called _to him.

Before Trox could even decide for himself the Energem sailed through the inches of air between him and it, fitting snugly into his hand.

The power flooded his body with fiery energy, and he screamed as if he were being torn apart.

* * *

After practicality, the same first-day speech from all of his teachers Jace was surprised to find himself back at 's door, a place he hadn't been since freshman year.

He stepped inside, where the short-haired, athletically built man sat at his desk.

"I didn't know you taught Earth-Space Science," Jace said.

"Bet you didn't know I worked for NASADA either," said.

"Weird flex," Jace muttered, "But cool I guess."

He then noticed the blue polo shirt had on, and he remembered what Lisa had said about him and Rylan both being blue rangers. Then he noticed the Silver Guardian coffee cup.

Was everyone in Angel Grove a Power Ranger at some point?

"Hey, fancy seeing you here," Lisa said as she stepped into the slowly filling classroom. Beside her was Rylan, again.

"Lisa's new here," Rylan explained, "She just moved from Stone Canyon. So I've been showing her around. Of course, it helps that I also have this class."

"It's almost like you're the only Earth-Space Science class I have this year," interjected, then just smiled to himself, "Don't mind me, keeping talking guys." Just then the bell rang and exclaimed, "Just kidding. You guys are on my time now. And they don't pay me enough for you to waste it."

After his brief, if not enjoyable lecture where he spent more time rambling about NASADA, Star Wars, and his love for mechanical engineering, then anything related to the class; the end bell rang and everyone rushed to get out of the school as fast as possible. Jace ditched Rylan and Lisa despite the invite to chill for a bit. He had something in the back of his head, and now that he didn't have school to distract his thoughts he couldn't help but let it linger to the forefront.

He stepped into the living room, where his father and J.J sat together drinking coffee and discussing Ranger politics.

"Wes sent the Silver Guardians to investigate the crash, but they didn't find anything," J.J said.

Tommy Oliver sipped his drink thoughtfully before responding, "Isn't it weird nobody noticed something before it landed? We have so many satellites…"

"You think it was cloaked?" Anara, the pink-haired alien that worked with J.J asked.

"Well I think whoever launched it into space in the first place didn't want anyone to find it," Tommy replied.

Jace looked at the two intruders in his house. He'd been hoping they wouldn't be around. After the battle with the Praetor, they had temporarily stayed with the Olivers. They were separated from their timeline, so his parents had taken them in. But it didn't take long for Wes Collins to come knocking and offer them employment with his Silver Guardians who were expanding their influence. Since then they made enough money to afford their apartment in Silver Hills. But they continued to show up almost daily.

"Hey Jace," Tommy said and smiled at his son, "How was school?"

Jace shrugged, "It was alright."

"Do you want to talk to your dad?" J.J asked, seeming to detect the gnawing feeling in Jace's stomach.

"It's okay," Jace said, "Where's Mom?"

"In the garage," Tommy breathed.

Jace nodded and avoided his father's gaze as he stepped past him and into his mom's workshop in the garage.

Throughout Jace's childhood, he'd only known a handful of his mother's technological contributions, mostly computer programs she'd developed for Microsoft and Samsung. He'd been blissfully unaware of her more life-altering work.

He found her sitting at her metal Workshop, her long and delicate fingers working tirelessly to mend some wires together. Jace examined the rest of her Workshop, his eyes igniting with interest as he caught sight of the silver pistol.

"Don't touch it!" she snapped as soon as his finger twitched.

Jace flitched then smiled, "I didn't even realize you saw me come in."

"Didn't need to," she said with a smirk.

"So when do I get to try that baby out?" Jace asked.

"Who said it was for you?" Then Hayley shook her head. "Anyway, what did you come to talk to me about?"

Jace stared blankly at his mother for a few moments as if he tried to figure out the best way to ask, "Um… outside of my secret, evil, half brother, there aren't any other big secrets in our family is there?"

Hayley turned to face Jace, and he wished that she hadn't…

Because for the faintest moment Jace saw something in his mother's eyes. A hidden pain suddenly flashed forward.

Before fading back into the void.

"That's a weird thing to suddenly be suspicious of," his mother observed with an analytical gaze. "Care to explain why?"

Jace's cheeks flushed red and he lowered his head. Why would some random villain even know that kind of thing? Wouldn't it be more likely she was just messing with his head?

"I don't know."

Why wouldn't they have told him already? They'd already come clean about Lucius...

But what if they weren't sure he was ready? What if they were waiting for the perfect time…

"I guess I'm just giving you the chance now… just in case."

"Relax," Hayley said with a warm smile, "You know that there couldn't be some big secret with Chelsea around."

Jace laughed, "That's a good point." His mother stood up and hugged him tightly. "Sorry, mom… I trust you guys. It's just that finding out your life is a superhero movie kinda makes you wonder what tropes are real life."

"Well you don't have to worry about any twist villains," His mother said.

Jace smiled and turned around, "Thanks for the talk."

"You too," Hayley responded.

But as Jace went back to his room and sat down the feeling persisted.

Maybe he could afford to hear her out. After all, if it was a lie it wouldn't matter what she said. And if he suspected it was true he could always ask his parents. At that point, they'd have to tell him if it was true.

He'd know if they were lying.

* * *

The Dragon sat at the street corner. It was a quarter till four, but she hadn't moved yet.

Her mentor had often said that one would be surprised what a little bit of patience can get in life.

The sound of footsteps caught her ears, and she turned to see a boy with a half-shaved head and a red checkered shirt. She didn't need to see the morpher to know who it was, but he flashed it regardless.

"What do you have to tell me?" He asked, avoiding her eyes and looking slightly past her.

She grinned devilishly, "Let's start at the beginning. I'm sure you've heard the story of your father being taken by Rita Repulsa and brainwashed to be her warrior, and I'm sure you know that it ends with the Power Rangers destroying the Sword of Darkness and freeing him from her spell. But maybe I can shed some new light on things… a little twist in perspective. In my world that never happened, Tommy Oliver stayed at Rita's side until Lord Zedd arrived and offered him something else, a chance to become one of the strongest Rangers to ever walk the Earth. From that moment on Tommy, Oliver was gone, and Drakkon took his place.

That man. Drakkon. Is your real father."

* * *

When Jace wasn't home that morning Hayley knew something was wrong.

"Relax," J.J said from the table across from Tommy. "He hasn't been gone that long. Maybe he got a little too messed up and crashed at someone's house."

Hayley eyed J.J and felt weirdly proud that Jace hadn't inherited his father's oblivious lack of tact like J.J had.

"Not that that wouldn't be a problem either…" he muttered.

Tommy patted his son from another timeline on the back. "If the school calls in an hour to tell us he didn't show up to first period I'll go look for him." He said to Hayley. "But I wouldn't worry too hard. He can take care of himself."

"You say that," Hayley muttered, "But the first monster attack in months randomly happened yesterday and you expect me to act like things aren't serious," Hayley said then sighed. She couldn't help but feel worried, because she had a sinking feeling her conversation with Jace might be the catalyst to something much bigger...

* * *

Jace leaned against the wall of the abandoned warehouse as he took the last swig of his stolen vodka.

He knew she was telling the truth, her eye's carried so pain as she retold the story of Lord Drakkon.

Lord Drakkon… the evil Tommy Oliver from another world. He had tied the two separate realities together in 2004 and for a brief moment pretended to be the Tommy Oliver of this world.

In was then that it happened, according to the records Maria had uncovered, Lord Drakkon had seduced a woman from the other world.

His mother.

"I gave her a chance to tell me!" He screamed before throwing the bottle at the concert wall across the room. The bottle shattered as Jace's head swam and he threw up next to himself.

"Rough night?"

Jace frowned, "How the hell did you find me?"

Trox stepped into view, looking a little worse for the wear. Deep circles hung under his eyes, and his face was even more colorless then usual.

"I tracked your Energem," he said with a thin smile. "I'm here to get it back."

Jace laughed, "That again? You caught me off guard once." He stood up and leaned right into Trox's face. "I could kick your ass any time dude."

Trox pushed Jace away, causing the drunken teen to fall back and smash his head against the wall.

His body screamed, but he was too intoxicated for it to fully register.

"I'm giving you a fair chance to just hand it over," Trox said.

"Fat chance," Jace said and stumbled back to his feet, ignoring the hot blood that ran down the nape of his neck. "You forget who's the Ranger here," Jace spat and morphed.

Trox just smiled, and the object in his hand began to glow intensely through his closed fist.

"Oh shit…" Jace muttered at the navy colored knight with a curved helm inspired visor. He raised his sword and swung it at Jace, who dodged as it cut into the concrete and threw dust around the room.

He didn't know if Trox counted as a Ranger, but he knew he was screwed either way.

* * *

Maria, The Dragon, was in full armor as she approached the figure slumped in his elaborate "throne".

The extremely handsome, and extremely hungover warlord raised his chiseled face. "What do you have to report, Dragon?"

Revlin Revuelto was the result of her world's Master Vile realizing that he was without a competent heir. As a result, he had D.N.A extracted from his only surviving child, Rito, and heavily modified with various other species. And more importantly with his own D.N.A cranked up to 70%.

Unfortunately Master Vile had neglected the fact that it took him several thousand years to mature into the sophisticated warlord he was.

"I have located two of the Energems on Earth," The Dragon said. "Just as a third materialized."

Revlin raised his goblet from the night prior swallowed the remaining warm, stale, wine. "Great," he muttered, "When can I expect them?"

The Dragon smiled under her helmet. "I don't believe it'll be long before the first Energem reaches your grasp."

"Wonderful," the proclaimed Prince of Evil said and threw himself off his throne and stumbled into a balanced stance. In a flash of black fire, he transformed into his monstrous form. Black leathery wings escaped from the back of his leather long coat and he rubbed one of his long sharp fingers over his pale skull-like face. He then muttered "I hope this headache subsides before my next meeting…" and walked off.

"From the lap of one warlord to the next," Scorpio said as he appeared in the room.

"You say that like you're any different," The Dragon replied.

"My alliance falls with you, Dragon," Scorpio said with a faint smile. "A fierce and powerful warrior. But where exactly does yours fall?"

The Dragon lowered her head, as the words of Revlin echoed in her head, _The United Alliance has offered the aid your master requested. Oh, don't give me that look… you can't expect them to blindly offer their support to our most infamous _rat…

She shook her head. Her loyalties weren't with any person. They were solely with an idea.

And that was something that would never betray her…

**A/N: So here's the start of my next story. I decided that I wanted to use this section to explain some of the behind the scene ****details and other thoughts I have about each chapter. First off Glyx is taken from the Kyuranger monster Gyabler, Trox's armor is taken from Kamen Rider Wing Knight, and Revlin's monster form is taken from Agent X from the Dekaranger/ Magiranger movie.**


	2. Family Matters

"Jace!" The deep voice of Saba screamed at the drunken Ranger, "Now!" Jace dully raised his blade just in time for it to parry Trox's sword.

_Trox's sword!_ Jace thought _This is ridiculous…_

The knight moved with deadly efficiency, and if not for Saba's rapid coaching Jace would be in pieces.

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Down! Down!"

Sparks flew from their impacting blades, but instead of striking once more Trox popped up and punched Jace in the helmet.

"Why didn't I see that coming?" Saba exclaimed as Jace recoiled back, a hairline fracture in his helmet.

"Won't hold it against you," Jace muttered and readied the blade for the navy warrior's next onslaught.

But as he moved in for another assault the navy knight was halted by a wall of magic energy that might have broken on impact but was still able to take the inertia out of his attack.

He turned away from Jace and towards the entrance.

Where Bandora arrived with her wooden staff directed at Trox.

Trox steadied himself and watched Bandora silently for a few tense moments, carefully calculating his next move.

Jace knew that this would be his only shot, he steadied himself and raised Saba, "I'm gonna trust you to fire at just the right second."

"When I see it I'll-" Saba began before stopping to launch a red laser directly into Trox's neck.

The navy warrior fell to the ground, clutching the scolded mark in his armor.

Jace moved towards Bandora and looked the apprentice witch in the eyes, "We're escaping now."

Not the most heroic, but it got the job done.

The two rushed out of the building and into the surrounding woods.

"Wait," Jace breathed, "Can't you just teleport us?"

Bandora nodded.

"Then do it!"

She blinked for a second before coming to her senses and raised her staff, taking them both away and out of sight of the rampaging warrior.

* * *

The Dragon watched the battle through the camera installed in the optic sensors of the Verox scout that had been surveying Jace Oliver.

A smile crossed her face as she watched the new navy warrior disappear in the foliage. He could prove to be an interesting investment.

Maybe even… a brand new Destroyer…

"What was that?" Revlin asked from behind Maria.

She flinched in surprise, which only granted a waft of stale breath as his monstrous face laughed.

"That's two Energem wielders battling… I'm not entirely sure why," she admitted with a breath.

"No..._her_," he said and pointed a bony finger towards Bandora.

"That's the daughter of this world's Rita Repulsa," Maria explained as simply as she could.

"So she's like… my cousin?"

"I guess so," The Dragon replied, hoping it would be enough to make him leave.

"Interesting…" he said and walked off.

Revlin disappeared, back to wherever it was that he spent his time-

Maria shivered

-then sighed and continued her examination. She thought she recognized the strange energy signatures from him but she couldn't be sure.

She'd need to do some research.

1***

Jace landed drunkenly on his butt and instantly demorphed, groaning loudly as the pain arced up his tailbone.

"Here…" Bandora said as she got on her knees and pressed her hands to his shoulders.

Relief washed over him as all of his pain subsided, and he was even sobered up.

"If I'd have paid for that bottle I'd be mad," he said with a smirk, "But thanks."

She stepped back and he stood up, surprised at how rejuvenated his body felt.

"So remind me why you saved me," Jace said, "Because the last time we met you weren't as friendly."

She looked away, her cheeks a tinge of red, "The Praetor tricked me… not that you didn't deserve what happened after you nearly killed Scorpio."

"He went for my mom!" Jace exclaimed then grew quiet before saying, "You're not wrong though…"

Jace then took a second and looked around, it seemed that they were in some wooden shack. The place wasn't grubby or built amateurishly, it was unfurnished.

"Sorry," she said, "This was the first place I thought of. It's a playhouse my mom had built for me in the Mystic Forest… it's kinda my happy place."

Jace nodded, taking in the scenery. The lumpy couch, a table with a half-finished puzzle, and toys that looked like they'd been sitting there for half a decade.

"Rad place," Jace said and took a few steps around.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

As Jace raised his foot he noticed something, a piece of paper with a name drawn onto a pink heart. He smiled as she noticed that he'd seen it. Her face grew an apple blossom color.

"Who's Olivia?"

"Nobody!" She snapped.

"I sense some heartache," he replied, then saw the way her eyes grew wide and distant, "Maybe some heartbreak…"

"She… doesn't like girls...," She muttered.

"Hey, don't stress it," Jace said.

"That's easy for you to say," Bandora said darkly, "You haven't seen her.. You don't know her smile…"

"Well you can't make feelings come out of nothing," Jace said, "So you should just accept that you can't change them. Just because she doesn't love you that way doesn't mean you aren't capable of being loved."

She gave Jace a strange look as his words processed.

"Like I said, don't stress it. You'll find someone eventually."

Bandora stared blankly at Jace for a few moments, then she suddenly threw her arms around him.

And for just a brief moment in their embrace, he heard her swallow a sob.

1***

Revlin was feeling great. His hangover had subsided an hour prior, and he'd had a successful meeting with one of the higher-ups at the United Alliance. They were even going to deliver him his own Monster Maker.

That wasn't what excited Revlin the most though, and that wasn't why he had traveled to the barracks of his ship to find the gift his father had sent him several months ago.

The one he had completely forgotten about until this exact moment.

He opened the door at the end of the hall, the one that nobody had dared enter after the last crewman had disappeared.

And sure enough, a pile of Tenga bones greeted him from the corner of the spacious room.

A low growl escaped its sole occupant, and when it leaped forward with its sword raised Revlin was ready with his blade.

He looked the blue-faced beast in the eyes, and it smiled back with his fanged mouth.

"Master… it's been some time," The beast muttered. It was a genetic monstrosity built in the same lab as Revlin. They used primarily Goldar's D.N.A, but with enough outside influence to give the beast a more humanoid face. It was clad in spiked and golden armor. Master Vile had attributed it to a hunter's loyal wolf companion. Revlin supposed it would make a decent general, but the brutish intelligence it exuded made him more than a little uncomfortable.

"I'm finally in need of your service," Revlin said, "We're making a trip to Earth. I have a long lost relative to make acquaintance with."

* * *

Jace was still locked in an awkward hug when he watched the red lightning strike the ground outside of the building. He then pulled away from Bandora and rushed towards the window.

"What is it?" She asked, a fearful expression blossoming on her face.

"I'm not entirely sure," Jace replied, "Something ugly. Both of them."

He then took a breath and moved towards the doorway. He leaned out of the empty frame and looked at the white-faced creature and his golden companion. "Hey ugly, what are you doing around here? Normal occupant of the Magic Realm and just a bit lost?"

The creature looked towards Jace and stood proudly, "I am Revlin Revulto, Prince of Evil. I'm looking for my cousin… Bandora I believe."

Jace looked at the creature for half a second, then stuck his head into the playhouse. "Hey… this guy is here to see you."

Bandora reluctantly stepped outside, where the creature transformed into something that didn't look like a Halloween reject and smiled rather charmingly.

"Hello, cousin. I'm told that your mother is none other than Rita Repulsa."

"That's technically correct," Bandora replied. But before she could elaborate Revlin exclaimed.

"Then I'm sure you'd love to help me conquer this stupid little orb for the United Alliance of Evil, they've been rather hungry for some interdimensional conquest and this universe is ripe for the picking!"

Bandora took a few defensive steps back, and Jace stepped up. "I don't think she's interested."

"What right do you have to speak up in such a rude way?" Revlin asked with a grin.

"The right of someone who's gonna have to kick your ass anyway," Jace said and raised his morpher, instantly transforming into the Red Ranger.

"Don't get so bullheaded," Bandora snapped, "If he's connected to my mom's evil family then he's probably stronger than you think."

"Ah my first Power Ranger," Revlin said she transformed back into his monstrous form, "Killing them is something of a sport for our family."

* * *

Hayley had just started to go into a full-blown panic when suddenly the chart in front of her ignited to life. At first, she was ecstatic, then she grew horrified.

She knew where Jace was! His Energem was activated only a few blocks away. But while he was close that also meant he was in danger.

There was something else, another Energem had appeared on the radar. But this wasn't one she recognized, and in fact, it seemed more dangerous.

But then just as quickly as they appeared the red energy had completely disappeared, and the navy colored one soon followed.

Tommy then poked his head into her workshop, "I heard you exhale really hard. Good or bad?"

"Both," Hayley breathed, "At first anyway… now it's just bad." She then replayed the data for Tommy, who watched with cold, analytic eyes.

"He was probably teleported somewhere," Tommy observed. "It's happened to me more than enough times." He then tapped his fingers on the desk her computer sat on before turning back to Hayley and saying, "Keep as many channels open as you can. Who knows where he'll pop up."

Suddenly the map grew hot with activity again. Hayley turned towards it and began frantically examining the code. "He's in the forest outside of Briarwood," She muttered. "He's morphed so that's probably not a good sign."

"I'll pass it along to whatever Mystic Ranger is nearby," Tommy said and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Jace wasn't ready for this. Revlin swung his sword into the Red Ranger's chest, throwing the Ranger back and into the arms of the bulky golden beast, who pulled him in and bit into his shoulder.

Jace screamed out as his shoulder bones crunched under the intense force of the monster's mouth. "Seriously?" He asked, "You're gonna bite me?"

"Sorry," Revlin said and pulled Jace out of the beast's grip. "He got carried away. He should know that I won't throw you his way until you're _scrap._"

Saba tilted himself slightly from his holster on The Red Ranger's side and shot Revlin in the face, causing the skull-faced creature to drop Jace as he screamed out in pain and annoyance.

"Thanks again buddy," The Red Ranger muttered to his sword as the golden creature sprang forward.

But thanks to a shield of magic energy cast by Bandora the blue-faced creature wasn't able to tear Jace to shreds.

Yet at least.

Jace picked himself up and regrouped with Bandora.

"Can't you just cast some magic missiles?" He asked.

"I don't know any offensive magic," Bandora said, "I want to be a healer, not a battle mage."

"Well I'm not going to criticize your career path," Jace said and raised Saba with his uninjured arm. "I will say that one would be vastly more relevant than the other."

Just as Revlin shook off the damage and prepared for a second assault two more Rangers arrived at the scene.

Nick and Maddie Russel, both morphed with their weapons raised, and a young girl at their heel.

Bandora turned away from the girl, "Hey Olivia…"

Jace just smiled from under his helmet.

Revlin looked at the other Rangers for a couple of seconds before saying, "Now things are just getting crowded… So I'll take my leave." He then turned to Bandora before saying, "We'll talk again… _cousin_."

"What was that about?" Nick asked as he demorphed.

"Not entirely sure," Jace said and followed suit. The two Red Rangers offered each other a mutual smile, then Nick turned towards the girl who accompanied them. "This is Oliva, she's training to take her Grandmother's spot as White Mystic Ranger."

"If she ever gives it up," Olivia said with a smile.

"I heard your dad's looking for you," Nick said to Jace, "Maybe you should go talk to him."

Jace shivered, "Yeah, I'll get around to it."

Nick just shrugged and turned around. He'd investigated, he'd talk to Jace, there wasn't much else he needed to do. So he and his wife turned around, their daughter following suit.

Jace took careful note to examine their daughter, she had her mother's round face and her dad's fiery eyes. He could easily see her as the next White Ranger.

"So, Olivia…" Jace said as soon as they were out of earshot. "Same one?"

"Yep…" Bandora said.

"Shame she's straight," he replied. "You'd be cute together."

Bandora just scuffed, "Whatever. You're probably happy she swings your way."

He shrugged, "Not my type. A little too Disney Channel…"

She eyed him, "What's that mean?"

He laughed, "I don't know. Figure it out yourself."

He then turned around, feeling the weight return to his belly. "Look, this has been fun and all, and maybe now that we aren't like arch enemies we can hangout. But I've gotta take care of some stuff."

"Alright," Bandora said, "I can teleport you somewhere."

"Nah, it's cool," Jace said, "I need a walk."

"Okay," She said softly, "Thanks for talking to me."

"Yeah no problem," He said and began the long walk ahead, "Later Bandora."

"Call me Bandi," She said and awkwardly reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "Wanna add me on snap?"

"Sure," Jace said and scanned her code.

"I'll hit you up sometime," She said with a nervous smile.

"Bet," He said with a grin as he turned back to the road. A part of him would have loved to stay awhile, but he had a horrible taste in his mouth.

And Lord Drakkon on his lips.

* * *

Maria teleported to the mostly vacant woodlot, where the blue-haired boy stood alone with his hands balled into a fist.

"Why the angsty sulking?" She called to the boy.

He turned towards her and smiled darkly, "I can sense an Energem on you."

"That's right," She said and revealed the Silver Energem. "This was bound to my powers by the Praetor when I joined him."

"How about I take it from you?" He asked as he transformed into his Knightley mode.

But she insta-morphed and parried his attack as soon as it arrived, and she knocked him back with a powerful blow from her second sword.

With the knight stunned she moved in for the kill. Her other blade ignited with flames and she swung it into his chest, knocking the knight back into his civilian form.

"How about instead of fighting," The Dragon said to the stunned warrior, "We combine our powers and get the rest of the Energems?"

The blue-haired boy stood himself up and looked at Maria. She could see the influence of the Dark Energem so easily. The greed was unmistakable.

"Maybe we can work something out," The boy replied simply.

And that was good enough for her.

* * *

Jace was about halfway home after walking for two hours. His body ached, and his feet burned. Maybe he should have taken that teleportation.

Regardless, despite the pain, he wasn't ready to go home. He wasn't ready to face the conversation that awaited him.

A car honk alerted him to the jeep that veered off the highway to park next to him. He frowned as he instantly recognized the driver.

"You're pretty far from home," J.J said as he rolled down his window. "Want a lift?"

"No," He said coldly, "I'm fine."

"It'll be night before you get home," J.J said.

"So?"

"Do you plan on missing another day of school?"

Jace scowled at the man, "What does it even matter to you?"

J.J chuckled, "I guess it doesn't. But still, it's hard not to see you as a half brother or something."

Jace scuffed, "Hardly."

The look in J.J's eyes told Jace all he needed to know. "So you know then? They kept it from me my whole life but they told you?"

J.J's face grew emotionless, a look that Jace had to admit must have been scary for anyone who crossed him during his time in SPD. "Get in the car."

Jace found himself helpless but to oblige. He moved to the passenger seat and got inside.

"Rough night?" J.J asked as he got back on the highway.

"Day two," Jace muttered.

"Look," J.J said, "I'm not going to get involved in your situation. It's all beyond me. But I'll tell you this. Tommy Oliver, the Tommy Oliver of this world _is _your father."

"They should have told me…" Jace breathed after a few tense seconds.

"How would you have told yourself?" J.J asked, "How would you have known it was the right moment?"

Jace grew silent again.

"I'll say this," J.J said, "I think it was wrong from them to keep that from you. You should know where you came from and what that might entail. But on that same note, I have no idea how I'd begin to tell someone that."

Jace nodded somberly, and nobody spoke the rest of the drive home.

* * *

Jace arrived home and didn't speak to either of his parents as he stepped inside.

They both watched him as if they were unsure how to begin a rant they had been constructing the whole time he'd been gone.

"Trox has gone evil," Jace muttered, "So I wouldn't expect to see him anytime soon."

"Was he the second Energem I detected?" Hayley asked.

Jace shrugged, "You're the genius."

With that, he slammed his door shut and he moved towards his bed.

He remembered the feeling that had overwhelmed him after he'd touched the green crystal. During his fight with Lucius on the Praetor's ship, it reached a peak but hadn't had a problem since then.

But he hadn't felt this angry since then. He looked at his hand and expected it glow green.

But there was nothing…

"_You look a bit conflicted…_"

Jace felt his stomach turn to slush, and as much as he didn't want to he still turned to face the source of the voice.

"_Maybe I can shed some light on the situation…" _The White Ranger said, standing before him.

Jace knew that the voice and his dreams were connected; after all, they shared the same familiar voice.

But there was something deeper, something much more familiar, and something much more terrifying.

The man flipped the clips on his white helmet, and slowly removed it from his head.

The world around Jace dissolved into oblivion as he finally got a glimpse of the man's brown eyes.

And the face of his father.

"_I've been here the whole time_," Lord Drakkon said with a smile, "_Waiting for you to be ready to unlock what was wrongfully hidden inside of you."_

Jace looked down at his hand but wasn't surprised to see them glowing green. This time he smiled. This time it didn't feel even remotely wrong.

This time it felt right.

**A/N: Like the start of most of my stories this is basically a two-parter. Revlin has been some of the most fun I've had with a villain. Revlin's Goldar pet is inspired from Neo-G****rifforzer from the massive dino crossover. **

**P.S I definitely want to eventually do my own version of the Dino Crossover. If anyone would like to see that let me know :)**

**Next chapter is going to take a step back and see what Lucius has been up to.**

**See you there**

**-Shadowhension **


	3. Aboard the Redemption

The two copper-colored moons watched like the eyes of a hungry predator. They silently cast a crimson hue over the field that Lucius trekked through. The small vegetation shuffled around his feet as he moved, trying his hardest to keep up with Luna.

The brunette moved with the grace and speed of a housecat. She had a

**primevalness**

to her strides as if she had a connection to nature that few sapiens had. Even with the Praetor's intense training, Lucius struggled to keep up with her.

"Why are we even moving on foot?" Lucius asked, "Why couldn't we teleport?"

"Dad's worried about making an energy trail," Luna said.

"I thought this planet was supposed to be primitive."

"It is," Luna said thoughtlessly, "But whoever we're chasing isn't."

"Yeah, isn't that a bit weird?" Lucius asked, "Your dad usually doesn't keep us in the dark. What did he say? Someone more personal than he'd care to admit?"

Luna stopped and looked at Lucius with a serious expression, "That means it's from his past life," She said darkly. "The one where he was Lord Zedd."

Lucius shivered, it was still hard to believe her father and Lord Zedd were ever the same person. Lord Zedd was a playground phantom, the boogeyman in every woods. But Zedd was gentle, Zedd was kind, Zedd was a loving father.

"_It was the last act of the only man to truly earn my respect." _Zedd had told Lucius one day aboard their vessel. _I was born from the ashes as a new man. And I knew I had to repent."_

So the former warlord had begun his quest for redemption his former servants became his crew. Then he had found the powerful Dulcea and freed her from the spell Master Vile had created, allowing her to leave with them.

Soon after the two got married. Then they conceived a child, the powerful and slightly malevolent Luna.

She continued moving, and Lucius rushed to keep up. After a few more minutes of silence, the glow of flames appeared over the horizon.

"Mom and Dad should be in this village," Luna said.

"So what? Have they been here the whole week they've been gone?" Lucius asked.

"Of course," Luna said. "They needed to make sure this was the right place."

"I'm not even going to pretend like I understand any of this," Lucius replied.

The village looked like something ripped from a fantasy novel, cobblestone houses littered around a small gravel road. Everyone seemed to be asleep, but torches kept everything glowing. Lucius figured this was to make the place seem less empty at night but only made it seem more desolate.

As the two moved further into the village Lucius detected something nearby. He turned just in time to see the pale-faced man charge towards them. His eyes glowed an angry crimson and his hands extended forward like he meant to grab hold of Lucius.

But Luna quickly intercepted, she drew her staff and hit the man in the chest, knocking him backwards into one of the buildings. His body hit the wall hard enough for it to make a smacking sound as his head impacted the cobblestone. His body then got limp and he fell face forward into the gravel.

"Did you hit that freak hard enough to knock him unconscious?" Lucius asked.

"No," Luna said breathlessly, "He's dead."

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked as his eyes scanned the fresh corpse, "You didn't even hit him very hard."

"Shut up, I'm thinking," she spat, examining him herself, "I think he died before he found us."

Lucius was about to ask what that meant, but Luna was already heading off in another direction.

The two approached a small inn, with a wooden sign that advertised a tavern and a few rooms.

The two stepped inside and were greeted by a rather human-looking bartender. Her long blonde hair was pulled into an elaborate braid and she smiled warmly at the two.

"You must be the other couple that the Big Room was arranged for," She said.

"Yeah," Luna said and rolled her eyes, "Something like that."

"Well it's the last room on the left," The lady said moments before Luna charged off.

"She's rather charming," The bartender said with a smirk, "If she was as polite as she was pretty maybe she'd be a real catch."

"You're telling me," Lucius said and followed Luna.

The room they entered had Zedd working some paperwork at a wooden desk, while Dulcea sat in mediation of their straw bed. Zedd was dressed in a black shirt and brown trousers, his wire glasses handing off his nose and his speckled hair nearly cut and styled. Dulcea was dressed in weather-worn brown leather armor.

So basically, Luna's dad was dressed like a businessman after a long day, and Luna's mom was dressed like a warrior princess.

"Luna next time you feel the need to get our ship barred from a spaceport at least make it one we don't rely on for fuel," Zedd muttered.

"Well hopefully someone at the next spaceport won't call me 'Little Girl'," Luna grumbled as she sat her staff against the wall and sat in the other bed.

"If we can even find one with cheap enough fuel," Zedd replied.

"Relax," Dulcea said, eyes still closed, "The Grid will carry us."

"Say that again when our ship is on empty," Zedd replied.

"We got attacked on our way here," Lucius said, "Right here in the town."

"Well it seems you took care of it okay," Zedd said, "But that doesn't exactly help our situation."

"What is our situation?" Lucius said, "What are we doing here?"

"I already told you," Zedd said, "We're tracking a war criminal."

"Why is that the only thing you're telling us about him?" Lucius asked.

"BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING!" Zedd snapped. He then paused and blinked weirdly. "Sorry… I got carried away for a second."

"So why are there only two beds here?" Luna asked with a frown.

"This was the most beds they had in a room," Zedd said, "But I figured you wouldn't mind. You should be grateful, not many dads would let their daughter share a bed with a boy."

"Maybe I'd be excited if you picked a decent one," Luna replied.

And nobody said anything else through the tense night.

When Lucius woke up Luna was missing from her side of the bed. He then got up and stepped past the tavern and into the surprisingly lively village.

Not soon after he was approached by a villager who seemed slightly less grubby than the others with a frown on his face. "You must be one the other visitors," The man said excitedly, "Your companion has picked a fight with Glix! You might want to save her."

"Show me the way," Lucius told they guy before they rushed to the center of the village.

The two moved carefully through the crowd until they entered a spot in the middle of a circle of wheeled venders. Nobody paid attention to the two as they reached the center of the crowd, but that was because all of their eyes were glued on the fight transpiring.

The massive, easily seven-foot behemoth of a man towered over the already small Luna with a saber in each hand. He lunged forward, his body a blur of motion in front of the young girl.

But she gracefully dodged each swing before delivering a single blow to the man's stomach with her staff. And he only tettered for a moment before falling back to the ground.

Everyone in the crowd watched with utter disbelief, as Lucius approached her. "Can you go a single day without causing a scene?"

Luna shrugged, "He told me I was too young to be drinking at the pub, so I asked him if he wanted to see what I could do at my age."

"T-that was amazing!" The grubby man said with a massive smile on his face. "If you could handle Glix so easily I'm sure you'd have what it takes to battle the demon."

"The demon?" Lucius asked.

"How much can you pay me?" Luna asked.

"Anything you want," The man said, "I can't exactly offer you the world, but I do have a rather expansive collection of valuables. I have tons of gold-"

"Stop at that," Luna said. "Gimme some gold and I'll slay your demon… assuming I can bring my friend."

"Don't drag me into this…" Lucius said.

"Of course!" The man exclaimed. "The demon is hiding in a cave east of the town. But be very careful… he's extremely powerful and just as smart."

"No problem," Luna said and turned eastbound, "The demon's as good as dead."

"Wait," Lucius said, "Shouldn't we go ask Zedd or Dulcea first?"

"No they're busy," Luna said, "And besides this won't take long."

"But-"

"Shut up and relax," She said, "You're too used to taking orders, you need to practice going with the flow."

With that, she started walking towards the cave, and Lucius followed behind. Not bothering to tell Luna that following her would still be taking an order.

The cave sat only about a mile out of the city. Surrounded by large trees and the bumble of forest life, it seemed less like somewhere a demon would lay and more the home of a friendly elf.

But Lucius knew better than to trust such intuitions.

"Hey! Watch it!" Luna said and grabbed Lucius by the collar of his shirt.

He turned to ask Luna what she was doing, but then he caught sight of the metal device he'd almost stepped right inside of. It was a pressure pad, with sharp spikes around it, similar to a beartrap.

"Thanks," Lucius muttered.

"No problem," she muttered, "I just didn't want to carry you home."

But her satisfaction was short-lived as something sprang towards them from the foliage.

Lucius's instincts took hold and he morphed into his purple armor with the Sword of Darkness raised to parry the blade of the new enemy.

The creature's brown eyes scanned him analytically as the sparks fell from their blades.

"Another Power Ranger…" The red-skinned dog creature muttered.

"Another?" Luna asked.

That was when the figure stepped out of the cave. Contradictory to what the man had said it wasn't a demon that appeared, but instead a man with heavy stubble and ragged clothes.

And to Lucius's surprise, it was a man that seemed to resemble a slightly younger version of the man he'd recently discovered to be his father. Tommy Oliver.

"It's okay Agent.O, I've got them," The creature barked.

"We don't need to get them," The man said, "We need to know who they are, and if they're here for the same reason we are."

The creature nodded begrudgingly and took a step back, lowering his sword.

Lucius turned towards the man, still morphed just in case.

"That's an Energem giving you that form," The man observed, "But it's been twisted… slightly corrupted. Where did you get it?"

"The Praetor," Lucius said pridefully. The Praetor might have been a madman, but Lucius's time aboard his ship had been the most important in his life.

"Well, that's interesting." The man said. He then stepped towards Lucius and offered his hand. "Agent.O."

"Lucius," The purple knight said and took his hand.

There was a rustle in the grass, and Agent.O flashed an expression that brought pain and anger to the Purple Ranger.

A look far too close to that of Jace Oliver…

"It seems you've already met my daughter, and my latest study," Zedd said as he approached, "But I'm unfamiliar with your friend, Dayne."

The dog creature just growled, "I didn't realize you were still kicking around… You look a little _fleshier _than I remember Zedd."

Zedd and Dulcea approached the four of them, and in doing so Zedd's eyes widened at the man. "Oh, I do know you… Tom Oliver… I thought you got dumped in the past."

"I came back," Agent.O said, "It's a long story."

"Well it seems like we've all got a lot of catching up to do," Zedd said, "Why don't we all talk aboard my ship."

"Dad," Luna said, "Is this who we came here to get."

Dayne eye'd Zedd, "Get? Doesn't sound too inviting."

"Oh relax," Zedd said, "I've heard you became a bounty hunter, I'm looking to hire you."

The dog laughed, "Old Zeddy you might be less intimidating than the last time we met, but your humor hasn't changed a bit."

In a flash of light, the six of them were teleported away.

On the ship, Squatt and Baboo were preparing a meal for the guests to enjoy while they all caught up.

Meanwhile, Lucius found Agent.O stepping out of one of the bathrooms with a freshly synthesized outfit on, a gray uniform and a green pair of Nike shoes. "What can say I'm a man of specific taste." He said when he caught Lucius eyeing him.

"It's not that," Lucius said. "I'm just trying to figure out why you look so much like Tommy Oliver."

_My dad…_ he thought but didn't speak.

"That's because I'm a clone of him," Agent.O said.

Lucius wasn't quite sure how to respond to a statement like that, but thankfully he didn't have to, because the calm and articulated voice of Finster spoke through the intercom.

"_Dinner is being set on the table as I speak_."

The table steamed with a variety of meats and fruits from all across the galaxy.

"Even meatloaf," Agent.O said, "I'm impressed."

"I figured you might appreciate that," Zedd replied and pulled the leg off a strangely shaped bird.

At the table beside the six of them were Squatt, Baboo, Finster, and even Goldar, who had long since ditched his armor for some black shorts and a baggy uniform shirt he eyed Dayne carefully.

"Relax big guy," the Anubian said to the Titan, "I'm not here to replace you."

"You didn't get hit by Zordon's wave…" Goldar grumbled, "I can still smell the evil on you."

"That's right," Dayne said and took a bite out of a large chunk of bloody meat; something that Lucius hoped had been prepared specifically for Dayne. "I was in a different galaxy, pillaging if I believe, maybe murdering."

"So why did you come here peacefully?" Dulcea asked, "If you knew nobody you knew was the same as before?"

"Because I'm not the same as I was before," Dayne said, "It just wasn't the wave that changed me."

"Well, what happened?" Zedd asked.

"I found him," Agent.O said, "He was barely alive and fading fast. I brought him back to life, and in return, he offered me the highest reward possible, a life-bond."

"So don't get me wrong," Dayne said, "I want to tear your new face clean off your skull, but my hands are tied."

"So how do you fit into all of this?" Zedd asked Agent.O.

"Well funny story," Agent.O said. He then raised his hand to reveal an ovalish shaped morpher. "Soon after I was left in the 1800's I was scooped up by Time Force and they offered me a chance to become one of their secret agents. And that was going great until I came to the year 2004 to investigate some temporal disturbance and my ship suddenly stopped working."

"That was what I suspected," Zedd said, "It seems that something has caused us to become a divergent timeline."

Agent.O raised an eyebrow, "How do you know about that?"

Zedd shrugged, "I'm more read up then you might think."

"So why are you hiding out here?" Luna asked. "On such a primitive world… living in a cave?"

"That would be my doing," Agent.O admitted, "I'm here looking for something rumor has it Master Vile hid on this world."

Zedd rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me…"

"I feel like you're on the right track," Agent.O said. "It's the Orb of Doom. I know it has transdimensional powers and I'm hoping it'll let me contact Time Force."

"I suppose that's why I heard rumors that Dayne was heading here," Zedd said.

Suddenly the tablet Finster kept next to him at the table began to beep. He frowned when it ignited with light.

"There appears to be a major energy disturbance on the planet…" Finster said. "From the village nonetheless."

"That might be it!" Agent.O said, "We've got to investigate it."

"I'm coming with," Lucius said.

Zedd eyed him for a brief moment, but then Luna spoke up. "I'm coming with."

"Then it seems dinner will be postponed," Zedd said, to which Squatt lowered his head and sighed. "Finster, prepare to teleport the six of us to the source of the energy."

"Seven," Goldar grunted, "Don't think I'll let that red mutt have all the fun."

Finster nodded, tapped a few digital keys, and they were enveloped in light.

The group was teleported to the middle of the village in the dead of the night, with both moons directly overhead.

The town's villagers were all dressed in black robes and hood concealing their faces. In the center of this group was the man that had hired Luna to kill the "demon" he was dressed in a suit with his face painted with chalk-white with strange symbols all over it.

Everyone in robes fell to the ground and bowed as the man spoke. "For the first time in centuries our moons are in the proper location to complete the ritual," The man spoke excitedly.

The crowd chanted happily.

The group watched this from the shadows, completely isolated from the event.

But Agent.O nearly blew their cover when he saw the man reveal the black colored orb.

"With this," The man said, "The ritual can be completed."

"I can't let them do this," Agent.O muttered and broke into a sprint towards the man.

But it was too late, and the orb ignited with purple energy. The torches lit around them became meaningless as the sky turned a bright crimson color.

Energy surged around them, ignited the air with powerful electricity.

"What in the name of the Grid are you doing?" Zedd demanded as he stepped out their hiding spot.

"Summoning our master," The man replied simply, "As we were destined to do since birth."

Suddenly a creature descended from the crimson sky, a pale-faced monster with a blue and white spiked body, covered in countless scars visible around his brown robe.

"Lokar…" Zedd muttered, "One familiar face to the next."

"That's right," The creature said in a haunting voice. "None of this was easy to pull off but increasingly easy with the gift of clairvoyance. Now I'm free from my dimension, and neither Zordon nor Dark Spector can stop me."

"No," Agent.O said, "But we can." With that, he raised his morpher, "Time for Time Force!" In a flash, his green armor appeared. It was nearly identical to the typical Time Force attire, but with silver replacing the white on the suit, and a helmet nearly identical to the Green Dragon Ranger, only with a silver stripe along the top.

Lokar laughed, "It'll take more than a Ranger to stop me."

Agent.O raised his Time Force blaster and fired at the creature, but his blasts reflected off the enemy harmlessly.

The cloaked men who had been previously bowing rose and revealed their crimson eyes before charging towards the Green Ranger.

Dayne interfered, cutting down two of them as he moved next to the Ranger.

"Thanks," The Ranger said his Dragon Dagger in one hand and his blaster in the other.

"Sometimes you make gaining my freedom from this life-bond far too easy," Dayne said, "Lucky for you I'm committed."

Lucius morphed into his armor and joined the fight, Luna following behind him. Dulcea and Zedd also joined the brawl, Dulcea with a wooden staff of her own and Zedd with two blasters.

"So you killed half the village to make them your servants," Zedd muttered as he shot down one of the zombies, "How creative…"

"I killed nobody," The man said, "Merely collected their bodies one by one."

"Still creepy as hell," Luna said and knocked one back.

"This makes me miss my Z-Staff," Zedd muttered, "Regardless, Lucius and Tom, hold off Lokar as long as you can while I think of something."

Lucius grouped with Agent.O and Dayne, directly in front of the monster.

Lokar grinned at the trio, "Why stand before me and perish? Why not bow to your new master and be spared?"

"I just got out of the grasp of one crazed warlord," The Purple Ranger said, "Not ready to do it again."

"How unfortunate," The creature taunted. Lokar then drew his clawed hands and fired a bolt of electricity right towards Lucius.

But Luna jumped in front of him and deflected the attack with her staff.

"What are you doing?" The Purple Ranger asked.

"Saving your ass," Luna replied, "Duh."

"You aren't a Power Ranger," Lucius said.

"Neither is poochy," Luna replied.

Before Lucius could respond Lokar shot a wave of dark energy that nearly threw all four of them off their feet.

Meanwhile, the man with the painted face snuck up behind Zedd, a dagger tightly in his hand.

He lunged for the warlord turned bounty hunter but Goldar was ready to grab his wrist and snap it with a powerful snap.

The man dropped the blade and cried out, looking towards his master in desperation.

But Lokar had already forgotten about the man who had freed him and was laughing to himself as he approached the warriors.

"It's been so long since I've gotten to spill the blood of a Ranger, I'm going to savor it," Lokar said.

Lucius tightened his grip on the Sword of Darkness. He remembered something Zedd had told him. He had to become open to the darkness without letting it consume him. It wasn't about vanquishing it as much as it was accepting it as a natural part of existence. He narrowed his eyes from behind his helmet and took a deep breath.

And he charged forward, letting a scream break through his throat. His sword was engulfed in purple energy as it rushed towards the creature.

Lokar easily caught the blade, but in turn, blue blood leaked from his palm.

"What is this?" The demon mused, "You drew blood?" He pulled the sword from Lucius's grip and threw it aside. "I hope that feat comforts you in your final moments."

Lokar grabbed hold of Lucius by the neck, lifting him in the air with his clawed hand.

His grip tightened, and Lucius struggled to stay conscious.

A roar escaped Luna's mouth as she rushed Lokar with her staff raised. The wooden tip hit the demon right on the head, but Lokar didn't flinch. Instead, he drew his free hand and slapped Luna away as if she were cardboard.

"Luna!" Lucius croaked through his collapsing throat.

A bolt of red lightning pierced the fragile air and punched Lokar in the side, causing him to drop Lucius and wince.

Zedd looked at his hand and shook it, "Ouch… way more painful with skin."

Luna laid crumpled on the ground away from the battle, but thankfully Lucius could see her labored breathing.

"So here's the plan," Zedd said, "And it isn't a very good one... " Zedd had begun before Lokar suddenly turned towards Zedd and smiled.

"Zedd… I didn't recognize you with all that _flesh_. No offense of course. I'm ecstatic, killing you will be much more satisfying now."

The demon charged toward Zedd, throwing two of his cloaked men careless to the side. Zedd's hands ignited with red lighting that propelled forward and splashed against Lokar. The demon roared as the smell of burning flesh rolled off its thick skin, and he slashed into Zedd's chest.

Blood escaped the freshly torn flesh and Zedd fell backward.

Dulcea swung her staff at Lokar, which shattered against the side of his head.

Lucius watched all of this and realized he needed to intervene. He grabbed his sword and charged forward, the adrenaline and the sound of his pounding heart deafening his battle roar as the Sword of Darkness plunged into Lokar's side.

The demon screamed violently, animalistic instincts taking over the intelligence in its eyes as dark energy flew in every direction. Lokar hooked his fist into Lucius's chest and sent the Ranger flying backward.

That was when Agent.O stepped in, "Fighting an ancient arch-demon," The Green Ranger muttered. "Typical…" He then shot a blast of raw morphing energy from his Dragon Dagger. He raised his blaster and fired into the traveling orb. The supercharged attack hit Lokar in the side where the Sword of Darkness poked out from his body.

The energy hit the sword and absorbed it into its mystic metal, causing it to glow and sizzle from inside the demon.

But still, Lokar's rampage didn't cease, instead if it was further fueled by his desperation and primal rage.

Dayne stood at Agent.O's side, his sword raised in a protective stance.

"Don't do anything crazy," The Green Ranger muttered, "A life debt doesn't count if it ends in suicide."

Dayne laughed, "Sometimes I wish it did."

Lucius fought his spinning head and stood himself up by his shaking legs. He then pushed himself forward, right towards the angry warlord. He dodged it's wild fist and jumped for the sword sticking out of its body. He grabbed the still burning hot hilt and tried to pull the weapon free.

Lokar screamed and after shaking around for a moment he managed to knock Lucius back once more, this time with enough force to knock his armor away with a burst of purple energy.

Lokar then approached Lucius's fallen form. "I've always wanted an Energem for my collection." It seemed that he'd managed to overcome his pain, and while his eyes were still sharp and filled with pain he was now coherent again.

And looking at Lucius with a terrifying hunger.

But Lucius didn't let intense pain and overwhelming fear stop him. Instead, the warrior lifted himself, going completely numb by the adrenaline.

But right as the demon raised another clawed hand, he was struck by a massive bolt of l lightning. The blast was powerful enough to throw the demon back, sparks flying from its ancient body.

Lucius turned towards its source and was surprised to see Luna, looking down at her hands in an equal amount of confusion.

It was also then that Dulcea made herself known again, Lucius had been so distracted by the battle he hadn't seen her slip away. Strangely she was carrying a large bronze colored canister which was embroiled with gems across its lid.

"Oh babe," Zedd said as he stood to his feet, blood still leaking and blooming across his shirt. "I love you!"

Dulcea just smiled, "Ready hun?"

Zedd nodded, his hands glowing. "Absolutely."

Dulcea then pulled open the canister, and the air filled with electricity. Zedd then directed the energy towards Lokar, shaping it into a funnel with his red magic.

Lightning tore across the sky as Lokar fought them with all of his strength. The ground began to shake as his clawed feet were pulled forward.

"You can imprison me," The demon growled, "But eventually I _will_ escape. And I will join the three pillars of darkness as they reclaim the galaxy."

Zedd scuffed, "Like I haven't heard that before."

Lokar was then pulled from his feet and _sucked _inside of the canister. Lucius's sword was pulled free and clanked against the ground as Dulcea quickly shut the lid.

Zedd laughed and fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back as he fell unconscious.

"He'll be fine," Dulcea said after rushing to her husband's aid. "He's just drained after doing all of that. And losing so much blood."

The man with the broken hand was suddenly freed from his shock-induced trance. He stood up and quickly sprinted away.

Nobody chased after him.

Agent.O looked at where the Orb once sat and found the spot empty.

"Of course…" He muttered to himself.

With the battle won everyone returned to the ship, where a strange calmness settled as everyone licked their wounds.

Lucius sat in silence for a while, as everything washed over him. He'd seen countless battles, but this one had felt different somehow.

The door to his room slid open, and Zedd stepped inside.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Zedd said, "I just wanted to talk to you real quick."

"What's up?" Lucius asked the former warlord.

"During our battle earlier, you were far too reckless," Zedd said, "Why's that?"

Lucius sat in silence for a few moments as he collected his thoughts. "I did a lot of bad things for the Praetor," He muttered, as he tightened his fists. "I figured if anyone should sacrifice themselves it should be me."

Zedd put his hand on Lucius's shoulder. "By that logic, the one to sacrifice themselves would be _me_. I've committed countless horrors in my long life. But if I would have sacrificed myself first chance I got I wouldn't have done all the good I've managed to do." Zedd looked deeply into Lucius's eyes, and the young Ranger saw the unimaginable pain. "Redemption doesn't come from sacrifice, it comes from the struggle to make the world a better place than you left it. At least that's how I see it"

Zedd then turned around and left. Leaving Lucius alone with his thoughts.

Later that night Lucius found himself back in the commons area of the ship, where Finster and Zedd played a game of chess, Dulcea sat in meditation, and Goldar was mid-conversation with the giant red dog.

Lucius then turned to see Agent.O appear with a duffel bag on his shoulder. He then smiled at Lucius. "I'm taking the room next to yours, so I hope you don't mind that I snore."

"Wait… what?" Lucius asked.

"Were you not paying attention?" Agent.O asked. "Zedd hired us."

Lucius looked to Zedd who just shrugged, "They both fit in with everyone else I've done evil with, and we could always use the extra hands. We're gonna need them for our next little project anyway."

"What's that?" Lucius asked.

Zedd just smiled, "We're going after the Omega Morphers."

Lucius considered asking Zedd what that meant, but something serious hidden in the captain's eyes told him not to.

"Thanks, by the way," Lucius turned around towards the source of the voice and found Luna with a black eye and a swollen bump on her forehead. "You were acting stupid, but it let Mom and Dad seal that thing."

"Yeah… no problem," Lucius said.

Her eyes then flashed a strange expression, "Just don't do it again. Not if you wanna stay alive."

It took Lucius several solid seconds after she left to realize she was worried.

**A/N: So basically while Jace and co are fighting the good fight Lucius is galavanting around the galaxy with Zedd and company. Every so often I'll post a chapter showing what the boy is up to.**


	4. In the Gaze of a Predator

The ship arrived earlier than Revlin would have preferred, and he had to stumble out of his bed with a headache that made yesterday's seem like a light throb.

Not that time even meant anything to the cloned warlord. Everything was just a blur, with destruction being the only consistency.

The small cruiser docked and its sole occupant was escorted to the throne room by several Tenga.

The creature appeared to be made of a congealed green slime. It's red puffy shorts shuffled awkwardly as it approached Revlin and bowed. Outside of its mushroom-like shorts it also wore a magenta-colored chest plate and had a large mushroom sprout that extended from its head like a large sunhat.

"So you're my monster maker?" He asked the creature.

"That's right," they exclaimed. "When you need something fearsome and fast Kleon is your slimeball!"

"Interesting…" The Prince of Evil said thoughtfully. "How about you whip something up real fast and send it down to Earth. Just to cause some chaos. So I can get your range."

Kleon nodded excitedly. "Of course Master Revulto!" The slime creature said and rushed away.

* * *

That morning Jace got up, feeling extremely energized. He shot out of bed, threw some clothes on, and moved towards the kitchen.

His mom was already at the table, drinking her coffee. She eyed him cautiously as he poured some cereal.

"You look like you're in a good mood," his mom said.

"Yeah," Jace said. "I guess I just needed some sleep."

"Look," Hayley said softly. "If you need to talk, about anything, I'm always here for you."

"Thanks, mom," Jace said and headed out the door with his bowl in hand.

She just silently watched him, a frown present on her face.

Jace then walked to school, where he found Rylan and Lisa at their familiar spot.

Well, Rylan and his familiar spot, but he supposed it was okay that Lisa was also there.

"Hey, look who showed for the third day of school," Rylan said, "With any luck, you'll get your attendance up to fifty percent."

"You're only a senior once," Jace said and sipped the rest of his milk out of the bowl.

"Unless you go to college," Lisa suggested.

Jace just laughed, "I'm lucky enough I got this far."

"You know there's a whole life outside of getting drunk and fighting monsters," Rylan said. "We're thinking about doing a college visit to Stone Canyon Community College. It wouldn't kill you to tag along."

"That's okay," Jace said. "I wouldn't want to third wheel on your first date."

"Date?" Rylan asked with a frown. "Dude… what's your deal?"

"Nothing," Jace said and stood up, "I'm totally fine. I'm just not going to let myself stay a slave to this janky education system." He leaned forward, "If that means I'm like my dad, fighting monsters all of my life then I guess that's the fate I subscribe to."

The Red Ranger walked off towards his first period, leaving Rylan and his new friend alone to stew in the second-hand passive-aggressive energy.

"I promise he's usually better than this," Rylan said, "Jace is a great guy… he just has some problems."

"You're telling me," Lisa said watching him stroll away. "So how about we go get some smoothies at Ernie's after the college visit?"

Rylan smiled sheepishly, too afraid to ask if he was misinterpreting her signal. "Yeah, sure." He said, "Sounds great."

* * *

Rylan smiled at Lisa Park as she sipped her blueberry smoothie.

"Spike knows a thing or two about smoothies," Rylan said.

"Right!" Lisa said, "This was worth putting up with that boring tour."

"I just can't believe the guide was so excited to show us the mess hall," Rylan said.

"Probably because it was the only thing of note on the whole campus," Lisa replied.

Rylan just laughed in response and started to drink his smoothie.

Which he was only a forth into when the flatscreen behind Lisa's head switched between the random game show reruns to the panicked look of a male newscaster.

"_Ladies and gentlemen I'm here to report another monster attack in Angel Grove this evening,_" The monster then flashed on the screen. It appeared to be some sort of strange unicorn monster, with a massive head taking up most of its midsection. The creature had a foil that it used to cause as much general chaos as it could. The creature then locked eyes with the camera recording it and sprang forward, causing the footage to go black.

"_It is strongly recommended that everyone stay in a safe location until the monster is properly handled._"

Lisa looked over at Rylan, and said in a quiet voice, "I guess you should take care of that."

"Yeah," Rylan said stood up. "I should have figured something like this would happen."

"Can I come?" She asked abruptly.

"Are you serious?" Rylan asked, "Why would you want to?"

She shrugged, "Never seen a Ranger battle up close," Lisa said. "Plus I'll get to see you in action."

Rylan blushed slightly, "Sure, as long as you stay far enough away to stay safe."

She nodded excitedly and the two snuck out of the building and several blocks down.

The unicorn creature was digging through a recycling bin, throwing lose trash all over the street.

"Is that necessary?" Lisa asked as they both crouched behind a dumpster.

Rylan shrugged, "Monsters are weird, you just kinda roll with it." He then raised his morpher and flipped the visor, causing his body to ignite with light.

In a flash of energy, his katana appeared in his hand, and Lisa marveled at it silently.

"I can show you later if you want," The Blue Ranger suggested, "When the city isn't in danger."

With that said he gripped his blade a little tighter and rushed into the battlefield. Over the summer, his father had taken him to the Wind Ninja Academy so he could get some basic combat practice.

Plus, ironically, Rocky DeSantos was helplessly in love with ninja. Made more ironic by the fact he'd been in a serious relationship with one, and he'd been oblivious to it.

The unicorn noticed Rylan approaching and raised his foil to parry the Ranger's attack. The two blades connected with a clank.

The unicorn was fast, his bulky body moving with the grace and power of a professional fencer.

It jabbed the foil forward right towards the center of Rylan's chest.

But the Ranger exploded into smoke.

The unicorn looked around with a confused expression, oblivious to the Ranger coming down for an attack.

His sword sliced its horn clean off, causing it to fall dramatically to the ground.

Rylan landed perfectly on his feet and he smiled to himself, it seemed that the extra training with Tori and the other ninja had helped more than he realized.

He glanced over at Lisa, who watched with an intense and exciting gleam. He couldn't help but feel the blush creep up his cheeks and his heart pound. He'd never garnered the attention of a girl like that before.

However, it was short-lived, as he was too distracted to see the foil come speeding towards him. It punched him in the chest and threw him backward as sparks flew from his armor.

The creature had seemingly gone into some form of berserker mode, it's foil a blur of motion as it tore across Rylan's chest.

The Blue Ranger grit his teeth and held on, hoping an opening would arrive before he could be knocked out of his armor.

Yet nothing was in sight, even as his armor began to tear and pulse with rapid energy.

But then something _did_ happen, but not how Rylan expected.

A ball of green energy hit the unicorn's side and exploded with wispy grid energy and the creature was thrown away from Rylan, crashing into the side of a nearby building.

Rylan turned towards the source and sighed.

"Look who had to come to save the day," Jace muttered, already morphed and welding Saba. Yet his body crackled with green electricity, more so from his raised hand, which arced with the energy.

Rylan didn't know whether he should be relieved or even more stressed.

* * *

Trox was still in his armor, laying flat against a metal examination table. Maria awkwardly maneuvered the machinery around his body, and for a brief moment, she missed having the aid of Alpha-1.

The machine hummed loudly as it scanned his morphed form, collecting as much data from his grid energy as it could. And the computer tried its hardest to comprehend the data.

It seemed that the Energem he'd bonded with was extremely similar to the others, but just as she suspected it carried more volatile undertones.

It was unstable, it was raw, it was exactly what she'd hoped it would be.

At that moment the door to the lab burst open and Revlin stepped into the room, his entire body reeking of wine.

"Is this the Energem you promised me?" He asked, eyeing the Ranger-like warrior on the table as if he were just another spoil of war.

"Well… partially," The Dragon replied.

He eyed her cautiously.

"I _could_ kill this boy and tear the Energem from his body," The Dragon admitted, attempting to sound as void of emotion as possible. "Or I could use him to collect the others."

Revlin sat in silence for a few moments, then a smile formed across his handsome, carefully engineered face. "Ah, the Evil Ranger, one of the oldest plays in the book." His grin deflated, "But it doesn't have the greatest track record as of late…"

"I'm not a Power Ranger," Trox said and stood up from the table. He then moved face to face-plate with the warlord and said, "I'm a _knight_. I'm the Dark Knight." In a flash of navy light, he demorphed. "I'm Trox, guardian of the Energems, and I believe it's time they all came to my collection."

Revlin grinned at the boy, "Say no more. Welcome aboard Dark Knight!"

* * *

Jace could feel the chaos energy surging through his body, just as Drakkon told him. This time it wasn't overwhelming, it was completely under his control.

And it felt unapologetically right.

He let it propel him forward, faster than even his Energem allowed him, and he sprang at his prey. He raised Saba and dropped down, plunging the blade into the beast's shoulder. The area around the blade didn't bleed, instead, it began to crack as if it were made of living stone. He then pulled the blade out of the fresh wound and shot a laser from Saba's eyes, hitting the weak spot and completely severing its arm as it crumpled to the ground.

The unicorn exclaimed a worried ney, but Jace just stabbed the creature directly where it's horn once stood and he shoved the blade as far as it would go. There was a hollow give, and a green slime leaked from the creature's wound.

And after a few seconds of struggling it fell lifelessly to the ground.

The satisfaction was immensely satisfying, and even when he demorphed his body arced with green chaos energy for a split second.

"Thanks for the help," Rylan said.

"No problem," Jace said with a grin, "Anything to save my dear friend."

Rylan frowned, "I wasn't hopeless," He said, "I would have beat that… thing eventually."

"Maybe," Jace said and shrugged, "But I took care of it faster."

He didn't care about that the hurt expression that flashed across Rylan's face as he demorphed. Jace had too much to be excited for, and he felt too damn good.

Lisa ran to his side and said, "Remind me why he's your best friend."

Jace just scoffed and walked off before he could hear whatever Rylan said.

The Blue Ranger had found somebody else to put his time into anyway.

* * *

Hayley frowned as she analyzed the data from Jace's last battle.

Soon after J.J entered the room. "Hey," He said awkwardly, "Care if I sit here for a bit? Tommy is showering after our sparring session."

She smiled at the man from another timeline, "Sure." She thought it was cute that even without his powers Tommy was still ensuring that he was in prime condition. Still, she couldn't help but wonder how long that could continue. Tommy was getting older every day, and one day he'd have to stop.

"So whatcha looking at?" He asked as he examined the screen. "I saw the battle, seemed like Jace curb stomped that monster."

"Yeah…" She said, examining the data. "That's a part of why I'm so worried." She then clicked a few keys and the visual representation of his suit appeared on the screen. "Remember that weird energy I saw before?"

J.J nodded.

"Well look at this," She then displayed the reading she got from the last battle, and the 3D mock-up of his armor was engrossed completely in a green halo.

"Oh shit," J.J muttered, "That's not good."

"No," Hayley said, "Just another thing to add to the list."

"You could talk to him," J.J said, "You're his mom after all."

"That's exactly why I'm scared to talk to him," She said, "I remember what I was like at his age. I might not have shown it but I know how it feels to not be able to trust your parents," She sighed, "I just wish I'd been honest with him."

"There's never a time you can't start."

Hayley looked at J.J, the man who carried both the raw intelligence of her husband and something else… the diplomacy of his mother. While it may be often be shadowed by the blunt, trigger finger instinct of a soldier and an officer, in softer moments it leaked out and into the conversation.

"You're right," She admitted, "I just hope I can break through to Jace before all of this gets out of hand."

* * *

Jace arrived at the predetermined location, a small coffee shop tucked into the corner of Angel Grove's main street.

He was there several minutes early, so he sat to himself and tried to let his thoughts process.

He looked at his hands and felt a shiver as they sparked with green energy.

_"It felt good," _Drakkon's voice echoed. _"Didn't it?"_

_"What are you anyway?"_ Jace mentally asked the voice.

_"I'm an echo,"_ Drakkon replied simply. _"An imprint of myself that got lost in the Grid."_

_"What do you want from me?"_

_"I want to be what my counterpart never could,"_ the phantom replied. _"The father you need."_

Jace couldn't help but grin as the words entered his mind.

Moments later she arrived, Bandora, dressed in a pink long sleeve shirt and some jeans.

"You look good when you aren't dressed like a mage," he said to the girl.

"Thanks," She smiled nervously and sat down, "What's up though?"

Jace sighed, "I just have a lot on my mind. I was hoping you'd let me vent some."

"I don't mind," she said in a calming tone. "I'm all ears."

* * *

Revlin watched his cousin intermingle with the Red Ranger from the glow of his fiery looking portal.

His frown was grand, and his disappointment was grander.

Why would she disregard the entirety of her family legacy by aligning herself with the Power Rangers?

The _good guys_!

She should be reveling in galactic conquest, and the fires of genocide, not chatting with some goodie good.

In was then, in the haze of his drunken mind, an idea was beginning to formulate. Something good, something that would finally get Bandora on the correct side.

And they would conquer as a family.

* * *

Maria stood uncomfortably around all the crushed metal and desolation. A junkyard like this wasn't typically a place the warrior would have chosen to conduct business. But this time the choice wasn't hers.

"Sorry for the grimy location," the greasy-haired man with the green gem on his forehead said as he stepped out of his hiding place among the trash. "But I can't risk anyone seeing me with _The Dragon_."

She smiled respectfully and silently imagined punching him in the face.

"So what do you have for me?" She asked him.

"Not so fast," he said with a smirk. "Where's my half up front?"

"You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," he replied. "That's how business works."

"You'll be dead if you try to do business with me like that."

He gulped, "Alright, alright. Here's what I know; Promethea is moving a truck of equipment and cargo from one of their vaults to a private lab in Angel Grove."

"And you think that'll have what I'm looking for?"

"It has to be _something_," he replied confidently, "Because an informant of mine says they've contracted a team of Power Rangers to deliver it."

The Dragon frowned, Power Rangers were the last thing she wanted to be added to the mix.

But it also meant that they were moving something _big_. Something she'd be interested in."

"Thanks for that," She said and tossed the man twice the agreed amount. "Forward all of your information to my ship."

"Right away," He said as she turned on her heel and walked away.

Despite the discomfort surrounding her The Dragon couldn't help but smile. Her instincts told her that she was dangerously close to the next Energem.


	5. Revlin's Plan

Becca Hart, leader of the Silver Guardian sponsored Ranger team known as Hyperforce, sat impatiently as she was driven towards Promethea's secret vault.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one a little freaked out," Neil Grey muttered from his seat next to hers.

"I'm not freaked out," she blurted aloud, "I'm excited. I've always wondered what kind of mad scientist stuff they've got going on at Promethea."

"I doubt its anything exciting," Sandra replied, "They're just a clean energy organization."

"That's been focusing on harnessing the Morphing Grid," Becca said. "Besides, I've seen all those leaked pictures of Promethea goons scouting out areas after Ranger battles."

"I just think it's weird that they contacted us," William said.

"I mean it's probably easier to hire some Rangers than to make your own," Allison suggested.

Everyone paused and looked at the team's newest member. Her artificial cheeks flushed red. "I don't know; it was just a thought."

Soon after that, the black jeep paused at the large structure that sat in the middle of the California wasteland. The property had once been a military installation but Promethea had purchased it for its functions.

Which in itself double functioned as a power move on the company's part.

The five Rangers exited the vehicle and it pulled off the property, leaving them to face whatever came their way alone.

The metal door slid open, and a brown-haired woman in a suit greeted them with a pleasant, if not slightly distant, smile.

"Hello, I'm Justice Sterling, C.E.O of Promethea. Normally I wouldn't be so involved in basic introductions but I figured I could make an exception for the five of you."

Becca stepped forward and shook the woman's soft hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"No kidding," Sandra said, "Your mom was my idol growing up."

There was a tiny glint of joy in the woman's eyes as she glanced towards Sandra. But Becca could also sense a bit of vanity that Justice was indulging in.

"Let's not waste any more time," Justice said, "Let's go inside and get started."

Without further hesitation, they all entered the compound, where they were met with sterile air and men in white coats rushing around.

Allison was the last to enter, and her presence immediately triggered an alarm above the door.

"Relax," Becca said to a startled looking Justice. "She's an artificial human from the 31st century."

Justice then nodded and regained her composure.

The group was then led further into the building, past the entrance and down several hallways, most of which required Justice to flash an I.D card at the door.

"Where are you taking us?" Neil asked as his eyes darted around the white walls. "Aren't we just escorting you to Angel Grove?"

"I figured you might want to see what you're protecting," Justice replied simply, "it might be a good motivator."

The six of them then stopped at a large metal door, this one carrying a large red warning.

**DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.**

So naturally, Justice flashed her card and stepped inside.

The room was small and claustrophobic, barely large enough for the six of them to comfortably stand-in. This was made worse by the machine in the center taking up a third of it. Resting atop the machine, inside a glass case was a green colored gem. It seemed that if they weren't in such a bright room it would be emitting a glow of its own.

"T-that's not radioactive is it?" Neil asked.

Justice chuckled, "No, that's not radiation. It's raw morphing energy." She then grabbed the glass case and a puff of steam escaped the machine as she pulled it loose. "This is the Energem, an object that channels intense levels of morphing energy. We've been trying to reverse engineer it to build artificial Energems of our own."

"So that's what we're here for," Sandra said to Justice. "I can see why you'd ask us for help."

Becca turned toward Allison, who was transfixed on the Energem. Her otherworldly cobalt eyes were glued to it.

The sight of her intense glare genuinely made Becca shiver.

Justice then moved past the Rangers and out of the door. They all then looked amongst themselves for a moment before following her out.

They all then moved towards the left-wing of the compound, where the number of people in lab coats was being steadily being replaced with people clad in uniforms.

Justice then stopped at a large metal plated van. "This is going to be what you take to Angel Grove," She explained, "It's our most reinforced transport vehicle. Nothing short of a nuclear bomb could stop it."

"What about a Megazord's foot?" Becca asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not much survives that," A voice said from behind the group. They turned to see a tall athletically built girl with a deep tan and her hair pulled into a tight ponytail. Her freckled face displayed scowl as she pushed past the Rangers and into the driver's seat of the vehicle.

"That's Mercy," Justice explained, "Don't mind her. She had a… traumatic experience with a Megazord battle as a kid."

"I get that," Neil said, "I heard all kinds of horror stories from an ex-boyfriend who was training to be a first responder."

Justice handed the Energem container to Becca. "I'll meet you back at the base to receive the Energem."

Becca nodded. "Seems easy enough."

Justice grinned, "I don't suspect any real problems. You're just here as insurance."

The overconfident look on Justice Sterling's face gave Becca an uneasy feeling in her gut. The universe had a way of ensuring those looks eventually turned to frowns, and she didn't want her or her team wrapped up in that.

* * *

Tommy Oliver watched the footage of Jace. Then he watched it again.

He felt his stomach twist into a knot. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible. He'd left home and his son almost immediately took up the family mantle.

And worse yet Hayley was supporting it. She was supposed to be the rational one! But instead, she was building them weapons.

The whole thing was giving him a massive headache.

Worse than that though, it seemed that his son was developing some kind of power. He'd felt something during their battle with the Praetor but he didn't understand what he was observing.

But now he could, and it was utterly terrified.

His thoughts were shifted as the door swung open.

"Hey," Kira Ford said. "I came as fast as I could."

Tommy smiled at his former student. The two hadn't been the closest over the years but out of his three former Rangers, she was the one who visited the most often. Whether he'd ever admitted it or not, she was also the one who felt the most like an actual child of his.

"So what did you need?" Kira asked with a look of concern.

"It's about your team of Rangers," He said, "The one you accidentally adopted."

Kira couldn't help but turn a bit red. "I flew out here because I saw that a new monster appeared. I was kinda hoping the Praetor being gone would mean things could quiet down."

"They never do," Tommy said, "But I'm working on a solution to that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Tommy said darkly, he dreaded the words about to come from his mouth, and he feared how Kira might respond. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?" She asked with a frown. "Something in your voice tells me that you aren't about to offer me any pointers."

"I need you to keep them out of this new threat, whatever it is," Tommy breathed. "They're too inexperienced and they'll just be a danger to themselves."

"Dr.O," Kira said flatly, "No offense but they saved the multiverse."

"With the help of every other Ranger they could find," Tommy replied. "They aren't a real team, they don't have the skills or the cohesion."

"Neither did we at first," Kira protested.

"But there wasn't a better team already waiting to take your place," Tommy snapped. Then realized he'd spoken more than he intended to. "Look, Wes has been training his team in secret. The Hyper Force Rangers are prepared, they've been properly screened and evaluated. They know what they're doing."

Kira just stared silently in disbelief.

"Look," He said in an almost apologetic tone. "I know how you feel right now. I know how protective you can get over your Rangers. But there isn't a day I don't think of Trent and what we could have-"

"Don't bring him into this."

"I'm sorry," Tommy replied, "I just… I don't want anything happening to anyone."

"Well sheltering them isn't going to help, especially when some monster tries to kill them for their Energems," Kira said and stormed out before Tommy could respond.

The former mentor just sighed. Things had gone about as horribly as they could've.

He backed out of telling her the truth, all of it at least. He was more than an anxious parent wanting to avoid his son being on the front lines. He was scared of the green chaos energy that Jace was manipulating. It was a mysterious and powerful force, one that even Zordon failed to grasp a true understanding of.

It was decided then, and he stood up. It was time for some research.

* * *

"So you're real dad is an evil version of your dad from a parallel Earth?" Bandi asked with wide eyes.

Jace just nodded somberly. Vocalizing it had sort of solidified it in his mind, and now he was dealing with it.

"Well no wonder you're a superhero," she replied, "You had the backstory all lined up.

Jace couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Tell me about it. This whole situation is hella fried."

"Fried?" Bandi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah…like crazy," Jace explained.

She nodded carefully, then asked the question Jace was dreading."So what are you going to do?"

"I don't even know anymore," Jace admitted. "I don't feel like I can even trust my parents. I just…" He trailed off, feeling the gut-twisting thoughts coming back to the front of his mind. "I just can't help but wonder if my dad even loves me or if he's just been putting up with me out of obligation."

Jace's attention was pulled from his problems and to the window outside of the diner, where a large metal van approaching. His eyes spotted the Promethea logo on the side as it came into view.

Before it was suddenly halted by a teleportation beam that struck the ground.

"Oh shit," Jace breathed as the green armored alien that had attacked him before stood in front of the van. Accompanied, unsurprisingly, by Trox as well.

"Sorry but I gotta handle that," Jace said to Bandora as he stood up.

The daughter of the Mystic Mother nodded, "Good idea."

Jace then moved through the crowd of citizens rushing through the back entrance to avoid getting involved in the monster attack.

Jace then rushed into an empty back alley and touched his hand to his morpher.

"Hey ugly!" The Red Ranger exclaimed as he approached the duo.

Glyx turned to the Ranger, but Jace just laughed. "I wasn't talking to you."

Trox just stared silently and morphed into the Dark Knight,

The two morphing warriors danced around, swinging parrying their blades.

Jace then jumped back a step and raised the hilt of Saba and shot a beam of energy at the Knight.

_"Why are you holding back?"_ Drakkon asked.

"I wish I was," Jace replied.

_"Use your true power," _the voice growled.

Jace smiled under his helmet as he felt his hand ignite with green energy.

He had a point.

A concentrated blast of green energy flew from his left hand and hit the Trox in the chest, shooting sparks from the enemy's armor.

* * *

Meanwhile, Becca watched from an on-board camera as Glyx tried to jam his dual bladed ax into the side of the van, but it hardly even scratched it.

"You'll have to try harder than that," a Mercy said as she leveled her pistol at the third generation Verox.

The creature muttered a laugh moments before she unloaded a full clip in fast secession.

Sparks flew as the creature's armor was pierced six times, sending blood, oil, and sparks.

"Damn," Becca muttered, "I didn't know Promethea had firepower like that."

But as she reloaded her charged rounds another teleportation beam struck the ground, materializing as a feminine, porcelain-skinned, warrior with snakes wrapped entirely around her face, save for her purple lips which were smiling devilishly.

Becca knew she couldn't stall any longer, and the five rushed out.

"An actual monster," She said as her feet hit the ground, "I've been waiting for this."

"I was kinda hoping this wouldn't happen," Neil muttered as he pushed his glasses up.

"Oh relax," Sandra said with a mildly amused look on her face. "It was in the job description."

The five Rangers then raised their morphers, "It's Morphin Time!"

In a flash of light five new Power Rangers took an offense stance, their blasters raised.

"What is that thing anyway?" The Yellow Ranger asked. "Some kind of snake monster?"

"Dude, it's Medusa," The Pink Ranger replied.

"Who?" The Yellow Ranger asked.

"I figured you'd have picked up a Greek Mythology book since our team is based on-" The Blue Ranger began before the creature charged towards him.

Sandra moved in, converting her blaster to its sword mode and slashing the side of the monster's scaly armor.

It growled and turned towards her, and their swords collided.

"Be more careful," She muttered, "Save the witty dialogue for when we're winning."

At that moment the unidentified navy warrior noticed the other Red Ranger's attention momentarily switch to the arrival of her team and took the opportunity to swing his sword into the Red Rangers chest, throwing him off balance as he grabbed the Ranger by his helmet and smashes it into the brick building they stood next to.

He fell to the ground and the navy knight rushed toward the Promethea van.

But Becca summoned her clawed gauntlets, converted to their gun mode, and jumped in front of him.

"Nice try," she said and blasted the knight backward with a massive charge of energy.

The knight hit the wall right as the Red Ranger recovered.

"Nice shot," he said, his helmet severely cracked from the impact. "But I don't appreciate you stealing my thunder."

"It's not stealing if you never had it," She replied with a smile hidden under her helmet.

"Ooo that's a good one," The Red Ranger muttered. "What comic book did you pull it from?"

"Beetle Borg #76,"

"Oh, I know that one!" Neil exclaimed. "That was a part of the Calamity crossover!"

"I've never been big on crossover stories," the male Red Ranger said. "They always cater to the most popular heroes."

By then the navy warrior had recovered from Becca's attack and lunged forward. His blade arced across the Red Rangers back and he fell to his knees.

"I might as well get both Energems," the navy knight muttered. "While I'm here."

Before the navy knight could move closer to the van he was abruptly assaulted by a black shield that flew through the air. It struck his helmet, leaving a vertical dent that sparked with dark energy.

"Good one, Allison," Becca said to the Black Ranger.

"No problem," She replied as she blocked an attack from the medusa monster. "I saw it in a movie."

"So y'all have an Energem," The Red Ranger replied as he stood up. "No wonder Trox here is all over you."

"What does that mean?' Becca asked the other Red Ranger.

"He's the keeper of the Energems. It's literally his job."

"Well now it's our job," Becca said with her Lapetus Claws raised. "And he's getting in the way."

"Hey Becca," Sandra called over to the Red Ranger. "I know you're a little busy but we could use an extra pair of hands."

Becca turned right as William slammed his hammer into the side of the monster. It hit her shoulder, causing it to sink under the pressure. But in response, she just hissed and cut against his armor with a burst of sparks.

She turned towards the rather annoying Red Ranger. "Can I trust you to handle your keeper friend?"

"Might as well," He replied, "I've been doing it from the start."

She nodded and rushed towards the medusa creature. The five Rangers then crowded around each other as a weapon appeared in a burst of light. It was a massive cannon, so large that four of the Rangers needed to hold it while Becca stood at its center and took aim.

She pointed it towards the impression in the creature's armor and fired.

There was a blinding blast of raw energy, and it didn't stand a chance.

It was obliterated almost immediately, it's body crumbling to dust and dissolving in the stream of energy.

Becca turned towards Mercy to see if she needed help and watched as she drove a combat knife right into the cyborg's skull, twisting it with a meaty crunch of broken bone and metal.

So Becca figured she was probably fine.

She then turned towards the two other warriors. The Red Ranger raised a weapon she instantly recognized as Saba, only it was red now.

The Red Ranger fought like a pro, parrying the other knight's attack. He had the form of a novice swordsman, but he made up for it with raw power and instincts.

And something else…

The navy knight, Trox, swung his sword in a downwards arc faster then the Red Ranger could deflect.

But it was stopped by the sudden appearance of a green energy shield. It blocked the entirety of the attack and allowed him the opening to fire a laser from Saba's eyes that knocked the knight backward. His helmet visor shattered, his eyes alight with fury,

"This isn't over," Trox muttered as he teleported away in a flash of navy energy.

"I don't know, man," The Red Knight muttered to nobody. "Seems pretty over."

"Hey Red," she called to the other Ranger, "Thanks for the help."

"Yeah, don't mention it," He said and began to walk away.

"But don't get in my way again."

He paused and turned his head towards her, and for a brief moment, she saw his armor flare with green energy.

"Stay out of _my _way and that won't be a problem,"

She met with a gust of energy that knocked her back several steps. It wasn't meant to harm her.

Just be a clear warning of his power.

"Somebody grab that," Mercy barked at the other Rangers.

"_That?_" Neil asked as he looked down at the robotic corpse.

"Yes, _that_," she snapped.

William shrugged and started moving it.

"If Promethea wants a good relationship with us then they better stop being so rude," Sandra said and helped the Yellow Ranger.

But Mercy just chuckled as she got back into the driver's seat

* * *

Jace demorphed in a nearby alley and went towards the coffee shop to continue his talk with Bandora. But as he stood outside the building he began to suspect that something was afoot.

His first clue was the door torn from the frame and sitting discarded a few feet away.

He stepped inside of the almost exclusively empty business and felt his guts turn to mush as he spotted the demon monster Revlin approaching Bandi.

"You can't escape," Revlin said an amused tone. "My ship encased the building in an anti-teleportation shield."

He reached his boney hand towards her but Bandora summoned a shield of energy to separate them.

Revlin laughed and reached towards her, and the shield simply melted around his hand. "Such flimsy magic, cousin. But don't worry, we'll teach you better magic."

"Don't get too carried away," Jace called to the monster. "Bandi's not going anywhere."

Revlin laughed, "That's where you're wrong, Ranger."

Just as Jace finished his morph the gold armored creature finished devouring the coffee cake that had been resting on the counter and leaped at him.

But the Red Ranger raised Saba and shot a laser of energy that knocked the monster back and allowed him to charge Revlin.

But the demon merely knocked him back with a wave of black fire and chuckled to himself. "When I said there was a teleportation shield around the building I forgot to say it was designed to exclude mine." He said and grabbed hold of Bandora before they disappeared in a flash of light.

Leaving Jace all alone.

* * *

Tommy stood at the cave entrance hidden next to the ocean bluff outside of Stone Canyon. He hadn't ventured there in years, but the situation at hand forced him. He stepped inside, walking carefully through the cavern as stone slowly turned to metal.

"Oh boy," The Alpha bot exclaimed as he entered the large darkened room. "When I detected a visitor I didn't expect you! I'll wake him up immediately."

The Alpha, named Tensou, moved as quickly as its legs would allow it, disappearing into the dusk.

Finally, a pair of green eyes escaped the darkness, and the lights around the cave flared with life.

"Tommy Oliver," Gosei said to the former Ranger, "What has brought you to my Command Center?"

"I request your console," Tommy spoke, his mind flashed memories that weren't his own. Zordon training the young Eltarian, tragically losing him a great battle, then pulling his essence from the Morphing Grid itself and making him the guardian of the planet. All of this he viewed with passive understanding, they were visions passed on by the Billy of another dimension. "Something has happened."

"I'm well aware," Gosei said, "I felt the fluctuation in the grid, I felt the universe almost collapse." He then paused, as if to say he'd have shivered if he could. "And I felt the force that prevented it. There walks a powerful Grid-Mage among you. A being with terrifying potential."

"A being of Green Chaos Energy," Tommy finished.

"That is correct," Gosei said, "Green Chaos Energy is one of the most volatile forces in the Grid. Its power is unfiltered and extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands."

"Like a teenage boy moments away from a mental break down..."

"If that is the case," Gosei breathed. "I'd see to it that he be contained at all costs."

"He's my son," Tommy explained. Then he cringed, "Sort off. Anyway, I don't want to hurt him, but he's getting too powerful, and too unhinged."

"Regardless of who he is that much power could be life-threatening," Gosei warned Tommy, "For him and anyone else in his path."

Tommy nodded, he was thinking- or _trying to think_, but his emotions kept overwhelming his judgment.

"Perhaps I can teach him," Gosei decided, "That much potential could be molded into a powerful source for good."

Tommy considered Gosei's words carefully. He knew this was the best chance of saving Jace so for everyone's sake he needed to be diligent.

"I'll have to discuss all of this with one of my former students" Tommy replied to the giant face-mounted to the wall, "assuming Kira will even talk to me after the fight we had earlier."

* * *

The Dragon frowned as she watched the replay of the battle earlier. One of Revlin's monsters and her warrior had both been slain by these new Rangers.

And they would no doubt continue to get between her and the Energem.

In a sudden flash the monitor shifted, it was replaced with squirming static before it slowly reconstituted.

The Dragon frowned, knowing what was about to appear before her.

"Master," Maria said to the woman on the other end of the screen. "What do you require of me."

The woman laughed, "As subservient as always. I've viewed all of the footage you sent to me, and I'm making preparations."

"Preparations?" She asked with an uneasy feeling.

"I'm sending a soldier alongside a machine that Revlin Revulto has requested. It's clear to me that you and Scorpio aren't enough."

Maria swallowed the bile rising to the back of her throat and merely nodded. "Thank you, master."

The transmission ended and Maria exhaled sharply. Working under her was the only way to get the resources needed to make Maria's goals attainable, but it certainly wasn't an easy relationship to maintain.

As if Revlin wasn't bad enough…

But still, she was willing to play whatever games she needed to accomplish her goals.

**A/N: So the Hyperforce team presented here were formally introduced in my short series Hyperforce: A Matter of Time, which you can find on my long time readers might notice that Becca Hart was actually introduced originally in Mega Journey at a much younger age. On a similar note, the character Mercy was heavily inspired by one of the main characters of FandomPariah's Power Ranger Aegis fanfiction. I highly recommend checking their stuff as well it's pretty exciting.**


	6. Nemesis Rising: Part 1

The Dragon stood anxiously next to Scorpio as the ship was transferred to the lower docking bay, the one typically designed for cargo deliveries.

"Why do you think they sent such a large ship?" Scorpio asked Maria softly.

The Dragon just shrugged, "Too many conflicting goals to even guess."

Scorpio just smiled, "Isn't that always the case around here."

Silence fell as the hum of the elevator became the noise, save for the gentle gnawing of the titan mutation enjoying a femur bone taken from another unlucky Tenga.

With a hiss, the door opened, and the crew was met with the newcomer. Her bright pink hair was cut short, styled into a sort of fohawk, and she was dressed in a torn leather jacket. She smiled at The Dragon, her septum piercing moving as her nostrils flared slightly.

"I haven't seen you in quite a while, Maria. You look good."

The Dragon frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you," she replied, "Choosing the winning side."

"Alice?," Scorpio asked as the recognition finally struck him. "Well isn't this one big family reunion."

The Dragon remembered Alice very well from her days as a Thunder Ranger. She was the daughter of her world's Kimberely and Eugene Skullovitch. In the glory years of New Angel Grove, she had followed Maria around as if they were siblings.

But The Dragon had abandoned all of that when she'd been offered the chance to recreate a better world, and she hadn't looked back.

But here Alice was, grown into a young woman, and stepping slowly towards her.

Maria was completely stunned when Alice wrapped her arms around her and pulled The Dragon into a tight hug. "I missed you," Alice breathed softly into her ear.

"So no hug for me?" Scorpio asked with a sideways smirk as Alice stepped back.

"Maybe if I hadn't just dry cleaned my jacket," she replied simply.

By then Revlin had arrived to meet Alice. He reeked of sour wine and filth.

"Your Shadow Generator came along with me," Alice told Revlin before muttering, "God save whoever you want to use it on."

But Revlin was entirely unfazed, grinning excitedly as he walked past them and into the elevator.

Alice then looked back at Maria, "Care to show me my room? On the way, we can discuss how to get that Energem you've been after."

* * *

Jace's mind was a pair of earbuds shoved into somebody's pocket as he stood patiently at the door. It was a small cottage tucked into the corner of one of Angel Grove's wealthier suburbs.

The door opened and Kira Ford stood with a smile that quickly shifted the moment she caught his gaze.

"What the hell happened?" She asked.

"Some dude took Bandi," he explained.

"Bandi?" She asked before it registered, "Oh, Bandora? Like the Mystic Mother's kid?"

He just nodded.

"Again?"

"Dude, we don't have time for this."

Kira sighed, "Just come inside and tell me what's up."

Jace nodded and stepped into her cozy vacation house, lined with various musical memorabilia and pictures of her alongside friends, celebrities, and people Jace could only assume were fellow Rangers.

Kira sat down on the couch in the living room and Jace immediately began to speak.

"Bandora was kidnapped by her evil relative… I don't know all the details on that part exactly but…" Jace explained as best as he could.

"So why are you here though?" She asked, "Did the Mystic Mother tell you to get me?"

"She doesn't know yet," Jace explained. "You were the first person I came to."

Kira was silent for a second and Jace could physically see the gears turning in her head. "So were you and Bandora just… hanging out?"

"I'm a Power Ranger," Jace muttered. "Life's weird."

"Good point," Kira replied. She then paused again before saying, "So you're trying to go save her?"

"Yeah," he said as his cool demeanor broke slightly, "Will you help me?"

She looked at him silently for a few suffocating moments before nodding, "Of course I will, but if we're gonna have any hope of saving her I'm gonna have to call up a friend."

* * *

Becca and the rest of her team sat around the cafeteria built into Promethea's Angel Grove base. Originally they were to leave after they delivered the Energem, but after the sudden attack Justice had commissioned the team for an extended stay.

"So let me get this straight," William continued with a look of confusion. "Our suits are based on Greek mythological beasts?"

"Well yeah," Neil replied, "What did you think they were?"

His face flushed a pinkish color, "Y'know just normal animals. Like I'm a ram, Allison is a wolf, Neil's a snake-"

"What am I?" Sandra asked with a smirk.

"A hawk I guess? I don't know dude there are a lot of birds out there."

"I mean you're right about yourself since the golden ram you're based is _technically _a Ram," a female voice said behind the group.

Everyone turned and saw Mercy with a tray in hand.

"Sorry to interrupt your team banter," she said with a styrofoam cup in her hand. "Just wanted to see what you all thought of our little slice of paradise."

"It's amazing how advanced this place is," Neil said.

"Well even before Justice took over, her mom, Grace Sterling, made sure that we were always staffed by the greatest minds available."

Mercy then took a sip of her coffee and smiled, "Not that most of it didn't come from some salvaged Megazord parts."

"I figured as much," Sandra said. "After all when started the Silver Guardians he outsourced most of his tech from Promethea. That's what all of this is about, just returning the favor."

"Well aren't you a smart one," Mercy replied. "But I'd expect nothing less from the daughter of Eric Myers."

"I see you've done your research," Becca said.

"Justice's orders," Mercy replied.

"Well, why don't you do some homework and get a few drinks with me?" Becca asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mercy chuckled, "Sorry you aren't my type. If I wanted ax body spray and crippling self-doubt I'd just date men." With that said Mercy left, leaving Sandra and William chuckling from the roast and even Neil and Allison resisting the urge to do more than smile.

* * *

After about an hour of Jace and Kira patiently waiting for the company she requested to arrive he finally dared to speak.

"So…," he tried to say as casually as he could. "You fought that Drakkon guy with my dad didn't you?"

In an instant, her face fell, "Yeah. Why do you ask."

"Nobody mentioned him secretly being my dad right?"

"Of course not!" She exclaimed. Then she examined the ghostly look on his face. "Why? Don't tell me…"

Jace stared silently, unsure of what exactly to say.

"Jesus Christ" She muttered, shaking her head. "I always knew there was something shaky going on with them. They went from being close friends to suddenly married to having you."

Jace felt his stomach drop as the wires connected in her head. "You'd have told me if you knew right?"

"Of fucking course," she said as her dread and disgust shifted to warmth as she pulled him in for a hug. "We're family and we don't keep secrets."

Moments later, before Jace could l think of a response, the door handle turned and the face of Xander Bly appeared.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he stepped inside. "There was some family _drama_."

"Hardly," Olivia Russell said as she came in behind him. "I told dad I was coming at that was the end."

"That's because you can't read your mom and dad like I can," he retorted.

"No I can," Olivia stated, "But they wouldn't have given me this if I wasn't ready," she said as she held out her dad's mystic morpher. "I may be trained as a snow mage but fire runs in my blood."

"No kidding," Xander said with a smirk.

Then behind the two of them, a bright light temporarily blinded everyone as the Mystic Mother appeared.

"I don't know _why_ my daughter would sneak off to be in your company," The Mystic Mother said as her eyes narrowed at Jace, "But at least you're taking the initiative to bring her home."

"Again," Olivia said, "Because apparently, Bandi can't go six months without getting kidnapped."

The Mystic Mother glared at her but Jace couldn't help but crack a smile.

Jace turned towards Kira, "So what's the plan?"

Kira looked back at him, then looked back at everyone else once she realized everyone was looking at her. "I- I'm not sure. We have four Rangers and an extremely powerful witch so it's not like we're understaffed."

"I can temporarily disable the anti-teleportation shield but I'll have to stay behind to keep the spell cast so that I can bring everyone back," the Mystic Mother explained.

"So the four of us will have to storm the ship alone," Kira said.

"What about those Hyper Force Rangers?" Xander suggested. "They're in town."

Kira scowled, "They're probably busy, besides this is just a rescue mission so we should try to keep it small."

Xander shrugged, "Makes sense I suppose, we just have to figure out where she is."

"I know exactly where she is," the Mystic Mother said. "I can feel her essence and I'll teleport you to her and then teleport you back. But be careful, I sense something dangerous aboard the ship, something of great darkness."

The four Rangers all looked amongst themselves for a moment before Kira swallowed hard and spoke. "We're ready."

The Mystic Mother nodded. "In that case May the Power Protect You."

The four were then teleported in a flash of bright white light.

And found a room empty.

* * *

Alice Skullovich didn't know what Revlin would want with a Shadow Generator, nor did she want to think about it.

Instead, she was focused on her mission.

She looked over at the large concrete building in front of them, then back at her companions.

Scorpio, one of her childhood friends, and Maria, the older sister she always wanted. They were all reunited again and she couldn't be happier.

"I can feel it," Trox said from a few steps ahead of the trio, "The Energem is inside of that building." Alice didn't like the newcomer with blue hair. He was an outsider.

But at least he was a useful one.

"Great observation," Alice said aloud. "You realize we're going to have to fight our way in,"

"Nothing I can't handle," Scorpio said with a smirk as his body began to shift to his monstrous form.

"Then let's not waste more time," Trox said and began to move forward.

Scorpio and Alice then looked at Maria, who simply shrugged and followed Trox's lead.

* * *

For the second time in Bandora's life, she was taken from her cell and being led down a dark hallway.

A pair of black feathered birdmen drug their dusty brooms around the floor but it did little more than transport the grime from one corner to the next.

"Not the best nest keepers," Revlin said to her, "But they're cheap. All I gotta do is feed'em every once and awhile."

As they passed another Tenga it snagged a small rodent running across the ground and swallowed it whole.

Revlin laughed, "Looks like I might have waited a little longer than I thought."

The two then approached a metal door that opened with a heavy creek as they approached.

"It took a lot of hard work to move the machines in here," he explained, "about half a dozen tenga died. But I'm sure it'll be worth it."

The entire room was surrounded by the machine. It hummed from every direction, a strange pulse that buzzed in the back of everyone's heads.

In the center of the room was a large medical chair with straps on the armrests.

Bandora gulped, "I don't suppose you're gonna tell me what this does."

"Of course I will," Revlin said as he threw her into it and fastened the leather straps. "It will zap your body with a concentrated ray of evil energy, drawing out the evilest parts of your mind."

Revlin laughed as the machine roared to life, "After this, we'll be ready to rule the galaxy like a true family. I can't wait to introduce you to Papa Vile!"

* * *

"So… now what?" Jace asked and looked around.

"We have to find her," Kira said, "Before whatever bad thing happens to her."

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Oliva asked as she gulped hard

"Not sure," Kira said, "Hopefully just an interrogation. Not the torture kind- if that's what you're thinking."

"I wasn't before you said that," Olivia said with a paling face.

"Come on," Jace said and turned towards the door. "Let's not waste time we could be using to save her… wherever she is."

He raised Saba and stuck its tip between the two metal slabs that functioned as a door. He twisted the handle and separated it enough for them to slip through.

And into the heart of the enemy's ship.

He looked desperately from side to side. Examining his surroundings as best as he could, looking out for the impending danger. The moment things started to go south Jace was ready for a fight. What he wasn't ready for was an empty ship.

Well nearly empty.

The group stopped mid-step as they turned down a hall populated by a dozen tenga sitting on the dusty floor. They all sat in a circle, some shiny stones, random coins, and a few bones in the center of the circle as the cards fell.

"Hey!" One of the Tenga cawed.

Jace felt his throat tighten as he raised Saba, "Yeah?"

"Don't tell Boss we're slacking and I won't have to peck your eyes out!"

"Not a problem," Xander replied, "We weren't even here, mate."

The tenga then continued their game and the group continued past them.

Jace then looked back at Kira and the two just chuckled.

"I kinda missed this," Kira said with a grin. "Brings back old memories."

"How many dingy hallways have you snuck through?" Xander asked.

"Oh you'd be surprised," Kira replied with a nostalgic smile.

"So remind me where we're going," Oliva said.

"Still working on that…" Kira groaned as they continued down. "Usually something lucky happens if we don't stop." As soon as the words escaped her mouth a blob of something dripped from above and landed on her shoulder.

Before she could do more then look disgusted there was a sudden blur of motion as something dropped down from the ceiling.

They all managed to scramble out of the way as it landed and Jace swore loudly before muttering, "This guy again?"

The golden creature growled, "Hello again," Then swung its sword for Kira's throat.

But Jace intercepted with Saba. "Someone get my phone and call animal control."

"Here let's just use mine," Olivia said and raised her Mystic Morpher, ejecting a splash of flames that knocked the creature back.

With the creature stunned and laying on it's back, the four Rangers raised their morphers.

"Magical Force, Mystic Force!" Olivia and Xander exclaimed.

"It's Morphin Time!" Jace said.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" Kira finished.

In four consecutive flashes of light, the Power Rangers transformed right as the creature jumped towards them again.

* * *

One of the Promethea guards raised his pistol with shaking arms, his finger twitched over the trigger. But an energy arrow struck him in the heart and ended his life with a heavy thud as he hit the ground.

Alice grinned from behind her Bow of Darkness. The adrenaline and satisfaction of a fresh kill shot through her body like a potent high. It was moments like this that she lived for. That was why her master had chosen her.

_I can see inside of you_, they had said to her that quiet night when everything changed, _the blood of a soldier, the spirit of a champion. _

They then took a special interest in cultivating the young girl, bringing out her latent potential.

The next guard fell with ease and Scorpio grumbled, "Save some for me."

Meanwhile, the Trox and The Dragon led the charge, bringing the group further into the fortress.

"Promethea is definitely formidable," The Dragon said, "Thankfully they haven't militarized all of that potential."

"No, but they've got us," A voice said from the other end of the hallway. The tawny skinned woman in a red uniform stood with her four other comrades. There was something familiar in the woman's brown eyes.

Something that stirred an uncomfortable hatred in Alice's chest.

The five soldiers raised their morphers. "It's Morphin Time!"

In a flash, the five Hyper Force Rangers stood directly in their path.

Alice stepped up beside Maria and the blue-haired Trox, as did Scorpio. They each armed their morphing devices.

In a flash, the Dragon stood with her swords raised, as did Trox as he transformed into the Dark Knight. Scorpio summoned his black Pseudo-Ranger armor.

And Alice raised her own Power Morpher, "Ranger Slayer!" She exclaimed as the White Dino Gem ignited the power of her modified morpher. Her suit resembled the original Pink Ranger. Only her suit was white, with black diamonds along her legs, a tattered cape, and a white and black chest shield. The front of the helmet was white with a crimson visor, with a back that continued with black.

She raised her Bow of Darkness and fired a yellow energy arrow at Hyperforce Red before going in for the kill as sparks sprayed from the Red Ranger's armor.

* * *

The titan mutant might have been overwhelmed 1 to 4 but it was still putting up a fight.

Kira jumped to the side as it chomped at the empty air.

"Watch out for that bite," Jace wanted, "he's got a strong jaw… Don't ask!"

"As much fun as playing with Fido is," Oliva muttered, "Shouldn't we work on saving Bandi?"

"I like her," Jace said and fired a laser blast at the enemy, "She has a point."

With the monster temporarily out of commission, the group continued down the hall towards… something.

The group paused as they stared down a fork in the hallways. They each looked at each other for guidance.

_Left! _The Mystic Mother exclaimed in their heads.

"Sounds like a plan," Jace said and followed her advice.

The four Rangers continued down the hollow halls.

"Aren't these ships usually more populated?" Jace asked.

"Are you complaining?" Kira retorted.

"No," Jace said, "Just curious."

"Maybe he's got a bad health insurance plan," Xander suggested.

Kira laughed but Jace rolled his eyes under his helmet.

"That was a good one," Oliva said, "Why don't you make it a Facebook status."

"Hey that's a good idea," Xander replied, then turned to Jace when he heard the Red Ranger chuckle. "What? Is that some kind of joke?"

"I don't know," Jace replied, "Figure it out."

"Facebook is still cool," Xander said, "Isn't it?"

Before Jace could decide on an answer the group stopped at a large metal door.

A scream then escaped from the door and Jace's heart swelled with rage as he slammed Saba through the control panel and caused the door to swing open.

The sight was horrendous, Bandora was strapped to a chair with a metal hat fixed on her head. Her body convulsed as dark energy was painfully dumped into her skull.

She cried out as the machine shook harder and harder until her seat exploded with raw purple-colored energy.

Jace didn't know what to think, and even began to suspect the worst. But as the dust settled she was surprisingly alive and standing.

"How do you feel?" Revlin asked with a smile plastered on his handsome human face.

Her mouth formed a tiny smile. "I feel better than ever." She then spotted Jace from the other room.

"Bandora!" He exclaimed then rushed towards her.

As he approached her eyes suddenly flashed a dark violet and the air was torn from his lungs.

He gasped for breath but his throat was being closed by an invisible source.

"Bandora is temporarily unavailable, but you can call me Nemesis."

**A/N: So this finally kick starts the Nemesis Rising storyline. The Titan mutant still doesn't have a name and if anyone would want to suggest one I'd be more then happy to hear it**


	7. Nemesis Rising: Part 2

Becca parried the bladed edge of the Bow of Darkness with her Lupitus claws and muttered, "my mom only had to fight one evil Ranger why are we up against four?"

"I'd say three," Sandra said as she swung her scythe into Scorpio's chest.

"Is that supposed to be a jab?" He asked as he caught the weapon as it traveled up past his midsection. He then pulled the weapon away from her grip and wrapped his stinger around her neck.

Allison flanked the scorpion Pseudo Ranger from the side and raised her shield when he moved in for a counter-attack.

Allison then quickly converted her blade to its gun mode and fired into Scorpio's face.

Meanwhile, Neil and William hit the ground as the Dragon made easy work of them, allowing the Dark Knight the freedom he needed to run away from the battle and further towards their shared goal.

Trox rushed down the hallway and the feeling of satisfaction was closer and closer.

Soon the next Energem would be in his grasp.

He approached the locked door that held the Energem and he quickly tore it open.

Only to be greeted by Mercy and an energy rifle.

"A part of me wants to call you Batman," she said as she leveled the gun towards his helmet, "but that name is too cool for you."

The recoil pushed her back a step as a blast of raw morphing energy flew towards the navy knight.

But was easily knocked back by his blade.

"Looks like I'll have to pull out the big guns," she said and pulled a small metal ball out of her pocket. "Figuratively speaking…" she then tossed the orb and exploded in Trox's face.

But surprisingly there was no damage.

For a moment he was confused, then he realized the function of the grenade wasn't to harm him. But weaken his morphed form.

Mercy then lunged forward and slashed Trox with her combat knife. The combination of the small energy charge and his weakened form was enough for the blade to knock him back with a burst of sparks.

"The Energem will return to me," Trox barked as he recovered.

"I don't think you know how this works," Mercy replied. "Because you have to get through me first."

"That's what you think," Trox replied and raised his hand.

The glass around the containment unit cracked in several places before instantly shattering and sending the Green Energem directly into Trox's hand.

The Knight then whipped around and dashed out of sight. Just a navy blur as he stepped past his comrades still engaged with the Hyperforce Rangers.

He then rushed outside as he tried to get far enough away from the building to teleport off the damn planet and to the safety of the ship.

The longer he stayed the greater the chance someone would interfere.

Suddenly Trox was flanked from the side by a blue hilted katana.

"See," Lisa said. "Told you something would happen if you just waited."

Rylan then moved in for another attack, but Trox was prepared and raised his sword in defense. A wave of energy exploded around the two as their blades met.

Trox was so distracted by the new battle he didn't even notice the Green Energem glowing.

As he raised his sword for another swing it fell from his grip and sailed towards its suddenly chosen warrior.

Lisa instinctively grabbed the Energem with no time for a reaction as her body was enveloped in green light.

***1

Jace hit the ground and skidded across the metal floor as he tried to catch his breath.

"Alright then," he muttered, "If you aren't Bandora then who's Nemesis?"

"I am a relic of the great war," Nemesis explained, "I am darkness incarnate." Wisps of dark energy flowed around her form. "This host might prove to be my greatest yet."

_"I'm sensing an unbelievably strong energy,"_ The Mystic Mother said through the comms. "_What_'s _going on?"_

"That's your daughter," Kira replied. "Or something using her body… it wasn't exactly clear."

"Bandi what the hell!" Olivia screamed. "You wimp why are you letting yourself be possessed?"

Nemesis looked towards the Red Mystic Ranger and her eyes glowed with recognition and almost softened for a moment.

"The mission's botched we need to evacuate now!" Jace exclaimed.

The Mystic Mother sighed as the four left empty-handed.

* * *

Lisa Park had no idea what was happening. First, there was light, overwhelming power, then the next thing she knew she was suddenly raising a medieval short sword in retaliation to a charging knight.

"Woah Lisa!" Rylan exclaimed. "You're a Power Ranger now."

She looked down at her green legs and exclaimed, "No kidding." Her suit was similar to Rylan's though her motif was of a tiger, with a helmet designed to represent that.

Trox then looked at the two Rangers then back at Promethea. "This is still better than having it with them." He muttered. "Eventually I'll be back for it." He said before teleporting away.

Rylan looked at Lisa, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Lisa nodded and the two ran from sight.

After being sure they were alone the two demorphed. And walked down the busy street where life had returned to normal after everyone was sure the Promethea attack wouldn't lead to more violence.

"Not bad for a first run," Rylan said with a smirk.

Lisa just looked down at her Energem in total disbelief. "I still don't know how to feel. I mean… This is just insane."

"Welcome to the club. You've just gotta roll with it."

Almost on cue, Rylan's morpher beeped.

"_This is Hayley_," she spoke, "_I need you back at my house to go over some stuff."_

"On it," Rylan said trying to contain his grin. "I'm gonna bring our newest Ranger as well."

Lisa didn't know what to expect as they headed towards the Oliver residence.

What she certainly didn't expect was a crowded garage.

"So you must be the new Ranger," Jace Oliver muttered. "What are you then? Yellow?"

"Green," she said in a mildly dismissive tone.

"Huh, interesting."

"I can have you a morpher by sundown," Hayley said, "But until then I'd avoid morphing."

"So who's gonna tell Tanya her daughter is a Ranger?" Tommy asked as he stepped into the room. "Because I don't want to."

"What brings you here, dad?" Jace asked as he scowled at his father. "J.J busy?"

Tommy seemed to be doing his best to ignore the comment, "From what Kira has told me you guys have reason to suspect that Nemesis is possessing Bandora's body."

"Reason to suspect? She told me it was," Jace explained.

"Look I've dealt with Nemesis before and it's no joke," Tommy Oliver snapped.

Lisa had to admit that seeing such a concerned look on Tommy's face only moments after getting her powers didn't make her any more comfortable.

"Nemesis is the leftover evil that was supposed to be purged by Zordon's sacrifice. It all had to go somewhere and it all conglomerated into one form. It doesn't have a body of its own, hopping from host to host. Last time I thought it was gone. But I guess it was just wishful thinking."

"So where does that put us?" Kira asked.

"Facing big trouble," Tommy breathed. "I'm gonna get in contact with Wes and see what kind of reinforcements he can send. Thankfully Hyperforce is already here on other business." He then looked at the three teens. "Nemesis is serious. If any of you see anything don't engage just contact me."

"You don't think we can handle it?" Jace asked as he narrowed his eyes at his dad. "Even after we saved the multiverse."

"That doesn't count-" Tommy began before Jace abruptly turned his back.

"Y'know what? Whatever. Bye." And Jace stormed off without another word.

Tommy sighed and turned to Kira, "Are you free to talk for a minute?"

Her eyes moved past the door Jace stormed through and towards Tommy. "Sure… I guess somebody has to."

Lisa then looked at Rylan, "Okay so what now?"

Rylan shrugged, "There isn't much we can do. We just have to wait and see what's gonna happen."

Lisa frowned, "That sounds stressful."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

After the unsuccessful mission to get the Energem the four warriors returned to the ship and were surprised to find somebody at Revlin's side.

"Bandi?" Scorpio asked with a stir of emotions. He hadn't expected to see the daughter of Rita after the fall of the Praetor, after all, she wasn't evil, just being deceived. But it seemed that she had changed her mind.

She looked over towards Scorpio and her mouth twitched, "Hardly."

He was instantly taken aback. Everything about her was wrong.

"Everyone meet our newest partner, Bandora. Oh, wait… what's your new name?"

"I'm Nemesis," Bandora said in an icy voice.

"Well you heard it here," Revlin said and gulped down another glass of wine. "She's officially my second in command and everything she says is the law."

"What about me then?" The Dragon asked with a frown.

"Same as always," Revlin replied, "You're just a general. If this can even be called an army."

"I have some plans on how we can correct that," Nemesis said. "Among a few other requests."

"Of course," Revlin said, "Whatever you want cousin."

She smiled, "In that case, I have a spot for us to land this ship. Set course for the moon!"

Back at the Promethea base, Justice Sterling was trying her best to remain calm. The Hyperforce Rangers had failed to keep the Energem safe, and now it was most certainly in the grubby hands of someone who had no idea of its full potential.

That wasn't a major setback since they'd collected most of the data they needed from it already. But the mere idea of losing such a valuable artifact was enough to boil her blood.

Still, there was way too much going on for her to get distracted now.

A man stepped into her office and immediately sat at the other end of her desk. He was an older man with silver hair and a business suit. The man was named Roger Corbin, and he'd been apart of Promethea since Justice was in the second grade.

"So what's the plan now?" He asked.

"Well, we have to politely get those Hyperforce Rangers out as quickly as possible. The less we have them snooping around the better."

"What about Project BD?"

"It'll continue with or without the Energem. Same with everything else we're currently working on."

"And what about the newest hostiles."

Justice grinned, "The Power Rangers can take care of them. Let the colored pests enjoy the limelight while they still have it."

* * *

"So that's your plan then?" Kira asked as the two of them once again sat in Tommy's study.

Tommy nodded, "It's the only thing I can think of. I love Jace and I hate what this is doing to us but I can't let him do whatever he wants. He has too much power."

"And it's a better plan then I could've come up with. You think Gosei will be able to train him properly?"

"It's the best chance we have," Tommy admitted.

"Then I'll talk to him," Kira said and stood up. "But don't think that means I forgive you for being a douche about it."

"Alright," Tommy said with a faint smirk as she left.

He leaned back and tried to relax. With Nemesis lurking, things were starting to get hot again but atleast Tommy felt like he'd regained a little bit of control.

It was at that exact moment that he realized he wasn't alone in the room.

He didn't look towards the threat, not immediately. Instead, he collected himself and sprang up into a defensive stance.

Only to be met with an extremely surreal sight. Somebody who looked exactly like the Red Zeo Ranger.

He blinked in confusion and the form had changed to the Red Ninja Storm Ranger.

In another second it was Dino Thunder Red, then Ninja Steel Red.

"Sorry to be so abrupt," The being said as it's form continued to shift steadily between Rangers Tommy recognized and some he'd never seen before. "Is this a bad moment?"

"Who are you?" Tommy asked, "What are you?"

"I am the Red Emissary," The being said, "A representative of the Morphing Masters themselves."

Tommy relaxed a little bit. He'd heard of the Emmasaries before, but only in legend.

"What do you want?"

"For years this planet has drifted aimlessly," The Emmasary explained. "Without Zordon, there has been no sense of cohesion. Rangers spring up whenever with nobody to mold the direction the Grid pulls them."

"I mean you aren't wrong," Tommy said with a chuckle.

"That's where you come in."

Suddenly Tommy's smile was gone. "What do you mean?"

"It's finally time to end the dark ages that the UAE began over ten thousand years ago. It's time for a golden age, one that even rivals Eltar at the peak of its power. But that level of progress needs direction. It needs a figurehead, Tommy Oliver."

"And what makes you think that's me?" Tommy asked as a million questions raced through his mind.

"You already made that decision many years ago in a dimension that wasn't your own. Zordon of Eltar is dead, and somebody needs to fill the void."

Tommy stood in silence for several seconds. Then slowly nodded. "You're right. But where do I start?"

The Emissary turned it's back to Tommy, but not before he caught a glimpse of its helmet shifting to Hyperforce Red. Its body became transparent, it's voice warbling like a phantom. "You go back to where it began"

* * *

Nemesis stepped foot on the moon's dusty surface and looked up at the ruins of the palace that Rita and Zedd had used for their base. The Machine Empire had laid waste to it decades ago, but it had remained untouched since then.

Motes of dark magic escaped her fingers and moved towards the palace. Slowly raising it's dilapidated walls and reconstructing its architecture.

"So how did the Shadow Generator make you a new person?" Revlin asked. "It was just supposed to make you evil."

"My essence was drawn out of the aether while trying to channel evil energy," Nemesis said with a smile. "After all, I _am _evil energy."

"Ah, okay," Revlin said, "That makes sense…"

There wasn't much else for him to say. Instead, he watched with partial awe as the massive building was rapidly beginning to resemble its former glory.

With intense satisfaction, the name atop the building was once again erected and it exploded with light.

"Bandora's Palace," Nemesis said, "How fitting."

She then stepped inside with Revlin following close behind.

"We can begin the construction of new Putty Patrollers. We can build an army to command, to conquer with."

Revlin smiled devilishly, "I like the way you think, cousin." Revlin was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. He laughed excitedly and raced down the halls dancing drunkenly. He stumbled and fell against a pillar, but used to swing around as he exclaimed. "This is it! This is the dawn of a brand new era!"

Nemesis couldn't help but share some of his excitement.

"I think you might be onto something."

**A/N: So let's handle this particular elephant in the room. The encounter with Nemesis that Tommy mentions is in reference to a scene that I haven't gotten to yet in the Mega Journey. It won't affect this story at all though.**

**Also yeah Bandora's Palace... I couldn't resist ;)**


	8. Facing Demons

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Jace muttered.

"Jace you can't keep being so reckless," Kira replied. "I don't understand your power, or how you got it, but if you're gonna use it you need to be able to use it properly."

"But I-" He paused, realizing he almost spilled the tea about Drakkon's echo had been giving him lessons. Apart of him wanted to tell somebody, but who would hear that and not criticize it?

_Besides_, he thought as they descended into the cave, _maybe Gosei can teach me something Drakkon can't._

_I highly doubt that_ the voice of his biological father muttered in the back of his mind.

Jace ignored it and followed closely behind Kira.

"I've never actually been here before," Kira admitted, "Tommy didn't mention it being this creepy…"

They then entered the cavernous Command Center, where the giant face of Gosei stared at the duo.

"Jace Oliver…" Gosei's voice boomed. "I can feel the Chaos Energy leaking from your form."

"Thanks," He said with a grin as his hand ignited with a green glow. "I've had some practice."

"You must unlearn everything," Gosei barked.

Jace frowned at the Toki head. "What?"

"You're much too liberal with it. Chaos Energy isn't a toy, it's a powerful entity."

"I've been doing just fine."

"Don't mistake luck for mastery," Gosei replied.

"Piss off," Jace muttered and turned around.

Kira was going to speak up or grab Jace if he tried to walk away, but instead, Gosei acted. He spoke calmly and darkly. "If you don't learn how to control it you'll risk harming not only strangers but everyone you love."

Jace paused, the image of the bounty hunter falling to the ground flashed in his mind's eye. "Alright, dude I'll hear you out."

* * *

Adam Park took a sip of his coffee as he stared at Rylan and Lisa. "Well, this isn't what I expected to hear when I woke up this morning."

"I know it's crazy," Lisa said as she looked down at her own Energem. "I'm still trying to come to terms with it myself."

Adam laughed, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not surprised, I just didn't think it was gonna happen so early. I mean you're only seventeen."

"And how old were you went Zordon picked you?" Tanya asked from beside him. Rylan could tell she was trying to stay calm. She was honestly doing a good job all things considered.

"Technically it wasn't Zordon." Adam began then trailed off. "Look I know you were trying to keep her out of this but she can't help that the Energem bonded with her."

"I know," Tanya said then stood up, "That's why we're not going to let her get thrown into this unprepared."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Lisa asked.

Her mom just laughed, "Ranger Bootcamp."

* * *

Jace sat cross-legged on the stone floor. "You know this really hurts my ass."

"You must focus," Gosei said. "Forget your mortal shell and let your psychomorph travel."

"It would be a lot easier if it didn't feel like I was sitting on a 12 inch-"

Suddenly Gosei's eyes glowed an intense emerald color, and Jace felt himself _shift_.

Reality melted. Or maybe he rose above it. Heading towards some unknown destination, through the thin fabric of reality.

At first, there was nothing. A world of blackness that surrounded Jace. He floated, like fruit encased in Jell-O.

_Focus_, Gosei spoke through the void. _Breath life into the world of your soul._

"Easier said than-" Jace began then paused because suddenly his feet were on solid ground.

_Keep focusing._

Jace blinked, his eyes found nothing but blackness. What was there to even focus on?

So he closed his eyes and let his mind drift for a moment before zeroing on what came first.

His eyes opened and reality returned, he was now in his bedroom. But something was different. Power Ranger posters still covered the walls, with action figures sprawled out around him.

This was his room when he was still a kid.

He watched his younger self sitting on his bed playing with an action figure, the original White Ranger. Would his younger self have even imagined that one day he'd battle alongside his hero?

Or that his hero was secretly his father?

"Hey, Jace," His father said as he peeked his head into the room. "Just wanted to say goodbye real quick before I left."

"Okay," Jace exhausted, "Bye."

His dad frowned and Jace remembered finding satisfaction in that. He always wanted to be the cool one, the kid that nothing phased. He latched onto that philosophy, let it mold him into whatever it wanted.

Because he was scared of the pain. Because he secretly wanted to cry every time his dad left on one of his "trips".

Soon after Jace watched the Legendary Battle on television. It was so silly that he never put two and two together.

"Your father lied to you," A voice crept through the air like a phantom.

Jace turned to see it's source. Drakkon stood where his father had moments before.

"He didn't trust you. He still doesn't trust you. Because he knows what you are."

The White Ranger stepped out of the doorway and the world melted away again.

* * *

Justice Sterling's helicopter began its descent over the small strip that was connected to the mansion by a trial of cement.

Beside her was Mercy, scrolling on her phone.

"Can you believe Dax's last Beetleborg cinematic universe movie only got a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes?" She asked aloud.

"Of course it did," Justice Sterling replied. "General audiences weren't familiar enough with the lore to get invested."

"Well they didn't make the movie for the general audience and that shouldn't have to be the point," Mercy grumbled.

"It's not about making art," Justice said as she stood up and stepped onto the concrete. "It's about making a profit."

The two then headed for the mansion where they were met by the now speckle haired man who still dressed like an Indiana Jones wannabe.

"Justice Sterling," The man said with an extended hand. "Still as dashing as I remember."

"I'm glad you decided to have me over," Justice replied and took his hand. "Hartford,"

"How could I resist?" He asked. "Your company is the reason all of us even exist. You were the pioneers of Grid-based technology."

Sterling smiled at the man, "I'm glad you hold my mother's work so highly."

"Could be admiration, could be the fact I've invested a quarter of my wealth into paying your royalties." He said with a chuckle as they both entered his mansion. "So what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you to?"

"Technology we provided helped you create a team of Power Rangers and their Zords," Justice Sterling said matter of factly. "Now _I'd _like for that favor to be repaid."

1***

_Jace, you're losing focus, _Gosei spoke.

Jace closed his eyes and tried to focus.

"_He knows what you are." _

Jace's eyes snapped open and he looked down at his gloved hands.

Stained in blood.

He looked over and saw Kaidio laying dead.

"Y-you killed him," Lucius breathed. "Why?"

"Because he loves it," Drakkon said as he stepped into the scene. "Because he's a monster. Just like me."

Lucius stood up and tightened the grip on his sword. He screamed out in anguish and swung his sword down.

But the sword was stopped mid-swing by a shield of green energy. Jace looked through the emerald haze and saw Lucius, his face twisted into a mask of raw anger.

In a flash of light, something appeared in Jace's hand.

His father's Dragon Dagger.

The shield dissipated and Lucius continued his attack, but Jace deflected with his weapon. It hummed with energy that poured off of it like green steam. As their blades connected Jace's weapon exploded with power that threw Lucius back and onto his back.

"Finish him," Drakkon said.

"No," Jace said, "I don't want to kill him."

"That's because you're afraid," Drakkon spoke. "You know what it feels like now and you love it. The power is intoxicating, and that scares you."

"No…" Jace said and looked down at the Dragon Dagger. "That was one of the worst moments of my life."

The Dragon Dagger fell to the ground and the world fell into blackness again.

* * *

Nemesis leaned back in her throne, the one that formerly belonged to Lord Zedd. Something deep inside of her dark spirit found the stone extremely comfortable.

"So what's the next phase of our plan?" Revlin asked. Bandora had been nice enough to erect a throne of her own for her "cousin", but she made sure to make it slightly smaller. Surprisingly he didn't seem to mind.

"The Energems right?" Revlin asked.

"The… what?" Nemesis asked.

"You know… the Energems… the super-powerful crystals. We have a general with who's dedicated to finding them?"

Nemesis shrugged, "Let the general keep looking. We have more important things to focus on."

"Like what?" Revlin asked.

"There's another," she said.

"Another...what?"

"I guess you could call him my brother," she explained.

"For real?" Revlin asked with a grin. "Where is he?"

"Dead. But I plan to change that."

"Can you do that?" Revlin asked.

"Not yet," she said with a look of sly pleasure, "But I have a plan."

"That's good," Revlin said and took a sip from his bottle of Andreasian ale. "Plans aren't my strong suit. I'm more of a blind destruction kind of guy."

Nemesis just smiled at the bloodthirsty man child. He wasn't the perfect person to rule by her side but he'd be good enough.

A few moments later Kleon appeared. "I've gotten everything set up in the workstation and a batch of Putty Patrollers are in the oven."

"Wonderful," Nemesis said and tossed a candy bar to the creature. Who then opened it's horrifying, toothless maw and swallowed it whole.

"Let me know when they're ready and we'll send them to Earth for a test run," Nemesis said.

Kleon nodded excitedly and ran off.

Leaving Nemesis to contemplate the finer details of her plan.

1***

"_Why are you running from me?" _Drakkon asked through the void.

Jace felt his fists tighten.

"_Why don't you accept me? Why don't you let me guide you? Your 'father' sent you to this fool to extinguish your power. Because he's afraid of you."_

Jace closed his eyes to shut out the tears that burned his vision. He knew Drakkon was right. His dad was afraid of him. He'd seen it periodically since the battle against the Praetor, a primeval fear that lingered in his father's eyes.

When Jace opened his eyes he found a ruined city, and a throne surrounded by a hundred discarded and broken helmets.

"You idolized the Power Rangers your whole childhood," Drakkon said from atop his throne. "Because you recognize their power because you _sought_ that power. You wanted to be a God."

Jace trembled, frozen in place.

"This is the power your 'father' tried to steal from you," Drakkon said and stood up. His body radiated a halo of chaos energy that seemed even more radiant in the darkened wasteland. Drakkon then approached Jace, moving past the fallen helmets like they were forgotten tombstones.

_Focus on control_, Gosei spoke to Jace. _Chaos Energy thrives on turmoil._ _It wants you unstable so it can control you. You've got to take that control back._

"I know how good it feels. How _right _feels," Drakkon said as he wrapped a gloved hand on Jace's chin. Jace could feel the energy transfer to him. It filled his spirit like warm soup on an empty stomach. "I can give you love, I can give you what my other self couldn't. I can help you realize your full potential."

Tears began to pour down Jace's chin.

He closed his eyes and the world shifted again

He opened them and he was back on the Praetor's ship. He saw himself, saw his father leaking blood moments before the universe exploded.

He felt a stir of emotions. He knew Drakkon was right, but that wasn't the full story.

His father loved him, his father trusted him.

That moment wasn't just his father sacrificing himself to beat the Praetor, he'd trusted Jace to do it. And that also meant he ultimately trusted Jace to carry on the torch.

Jace suddenly slapped Drakkon's hand away.

"My dad sent me here because he's afraid, but he's not afraid of what I am. He's afraid of what I could become," Suddenly in a flash of red light Saba appeared in Jace's hand. "After all he's seen what it looks like."

Drakkon growled and summoned his Dragon Dagger. "You dare disrespect me? I am your creator, your real father."

"You aren't my father," Jace replied. "You might have brought me into this world, but my real dad is the one who made me who I am. He made me somebody that wants to be a hero."

Jace charged forward with Saba and swung into the Dragon Dagger.

"He lied and manipulated you your entire life," Drakkon replied.

"He was trying to shelter me!" Jace exclaimed and swung Saba hard enough to knock the Dragon Dagger away. "You're the one who's trying to manipulate me. You tried to isolate me from my family, from the people who love me." In a flash of light a gold and black shield formed around Jace's chest. It was the same shield his mother called on during her time as a Zeo Ranger.

Drakkon stepped back. "I created you," Drakkon bellowed. "You owe your very existence to me."

"You made me," Jace replied, "But I'm not your tool." He primed Saba and charged forward, stabbing Drakkon in the chest. "You aren't my dad and you never will be."

Drakkon fell to the ground, his existence cracking like a broken mirror.

"You can't escape your fate…" He breathed before completely breaking apart.

* * *

Adam did a spin kick that Lisa barely had time to dodge, she stepped back and tripped over a rock. Her body tumbled to the ground and Adam rushed to examine her.

"I'm fine," She muttered as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Maybe I came on a little strong," He replied, "It's not like you ever really took an interest in martial arts so you're still a novice."

"Not everyone is a black belt at thirteen," Tanya said as she helped Lisa up.

"I was twelve," Adam said, "Rocky was thirteen."

"What can I say," Rocky replied from a wooden bench the Parks had in their backyard, "I'm a slow learner."

"I don't see why we've been craming so much," Lisa said, "It's not like they're a monster attack every day."

"More like every week," Rocky replied, "Or that's what it used to be. Things have been pretty slow lately."

"Exactly," She said, "It's not like they're gonna send a monster to our backyard."

Suddenly a teleportation beam struck the ground in front of her and a posse of creatures appeared.

"You _had _to say that didn't you," Rocky muttered as he took a fighting stance.

The creature leading the charge was some form of massive rock monster with a lumbering mountain body and with feet covered in moss. Accompanying the creature was something to make the veteran Rangers all a little concerned.

"Are those putties?" Tanya asked.

"That's right," Adam replied, "But something's different…"

These putty patrollers were almost identical to the ones the Rangers had faced but these had eyes that glowed an emerald green with cracks in their bodies that leaked a similar glow.

The putties went in for the attack and the veteran Rangers sprang into action.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Rylan stood in the path of the rock creature.

"Hayley told me not to morph yet," Lisa said, "Do you think that'll be a problem?"

"It shouldn't…" Rylan said, then pulled off his morpher and tossed it to her. "Just use mine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He replied, "if Jace can handle it so can I."

Lisa nodded and put his morpher on her wrist. The two then said, "It's morphin time!" In tandem as the light enveloped them.

Lisa raised her short sword, "I've played Skyrim in VR, I think I've got this."

"The idea is the same… kinda," Rylan replied as he raised his Katana.

The rock creature growled and charged.

Rylan ninja streaked to meet its rush, his ninjutsu was basic, but it got the job done. His sword hit the shield built into the side of the creature's arm and its other arm pointed towards him and shot magma right at him.

"Ow ow ow that's hot," He said and brushed the burning liquid off his armor.

A few feet away the veteran rangers fought the putties unmorphed. "Kinda brings back memories," Adam said as he kicked one of them back.

"Yeah, just like old times." Rocky replied, "If the putties drank a lot more Mountain Dew."

Back with the Rangers Lisa flanked the side of the creature with her sword, but it just clanked and bounced off. "This guy is too solid," Lisa said moments before the creature turned towards her and knocked her back with a swing of its massive arm.

"We'll just have to hit him with something stronger," Rylan said as he channeled his morphing energy into his sword.

He rushed forward and swung his glowing blade, which cut through the creature's midsection.

The attack left a gaping gash in the monster's midsection that was welting with tiny pockets of green fluid.

Lisa figured this was her chance and moved in, stabbing her blade forward into its scarred rocky flesh. Her blade broke through and as she pulled it out the creature fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Oh hell yeah!" She exclaimed triumphantly, then looked to Rylan to gage his excitement.

But then his suit began to spark with arcs of blue lightning tearing through him. He fell to the ground and screamed as he demorphed.

The trio of veterans paused and turned towards the fallen Ranger.

"We got this," Adam said to Rocky as Tanya and him raised their Master Morphers.

The two morphed and fought the putties while Rocky rushed towards his son.

"I'm fine, dad," Rylan said as he forced his shaky body up. Then immediately passed out.

Meanwhile, the Zeo Rangers were struggling against the putties.

"Were they this strong when you fought them?" Tanya asked.

"No," Adam said as he managed to dispatch one of them.

Lisa then joined them, cutting down one of the already damaged putties.

With their combined force the last of the putties were dismantled and they all went towards Rocky who was already calling for an ambulance.

* * *

Alice sighed softly as she sat alone in her new room. Her first shot of getting the Energem had resulted in a humiliating failure. Her first chance to show Maria how much she'd advanced slipped through her fingers.

But as she watched the satellite footage of the putty attack she saw the perfect opportunity beginning to take shape. Her mind slowly pieced it together as a smile bloomed.

She looked at her Dino Gem and closed her fist around it.

It was almost as if fate itself was presenting the Energems.

* * *

Several hours later and Rylan was still unconscious. After the doctors couldn't find anything medically wrong with him Rocky had called Hayley to investigate. She scanned him with a handheld device and frowned as she glanced at the data being displayed on her laptop.

"It seems that his spirit took a major blow from too much unfiltered Grid Energy," She explained.

Rocky looked confused, and Lisa knew it was time for her to speak up.

"Um…" She started, swallowing the lump in her throat. "He gave me his morpher so we both could fight that monster."

"And you thought that was a good idea?" Rocky asked then winced when he realized how aggressive his tone had gotten. "Sorry… I'm just worried about him."

"I've never seen anything like this before," Hayley admitted, "His," She paused for a second as she tried to find the right word, "_Spirit_ has withdrawn into itself. I can only assume to try to recover."

"So what can we do?" Lisa asked.

"Wait," Hayley said, "As bad as that sounds it's the only thing we can do."

"I'm sorry Hayley but that's not good enough," Rocky said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked Rylan's dad.

"Visiting an old friend," Rocky replied as he left the hospital room.

Lisa looked back to Rylan and felt her stomach drop as his father left.

She then looked to Hayley who just sighed. "I should have your morpher ready soon."

"If I got it sooner we wouldn't be here."

She winced as Hayley flinched.

"I'm sorry," Lisa blurted.

"Don't be," Hayley said, "you aren't completely wrong."

Still… She held her head down as her face burned. She felt another wave of panic wash over her. Unlike Rylan, and Jace she'd been told of her heritage. She took pride in it and jumped on the first chance she got.

But things didn't go as planned and Rylan had paid the unfortunate cost.

"Look," Hayley said softly. "It's my fault. Just like a part of it's Rylan's fault. It's all of our faults and we can't escape that. So we have to pour that burden into our motivation."

Silence settled over the hospital room but not that was replaced by the inconspicuous step of boots across the laminate flooring.

A girl that Lisa didn't recognize opened the door. A pink-haired teenager in a large leather jacket with a look of cold determination on her face.

"Give me the Energems," She spoke plainly.

"I'm by no means trying to trigger a dramatic reveal," Hayley said as she stood up slowly, "But how do you expect to take them?"

The girl smiled, "I was hoping you could hand them over nicely, but I'm always ready for a fight."

She raised a Power Morpher into the air and it exploded with white light.

The White Ranger Slayer raised her bow of Darkness and pointed it at Hayley's head.


	9. Revival

Justice took a sip of the wine and smiled at Andrew Hartford.

"So what are you after?" Andrew asked as he smiled back, "What could bring the elusive Justice Sterling into my private estate?"

Her next question was fast like a bullet tossed into the revolver after a quick draw. "Where were you on Arrival Day?"

"Ah Arrival Day," said, "I was soul searching. Nearly broke. Somewhere south. I saw it on a truck stop television."

"And it changed your life," She said softly.

"Well of course!" Andrew exclaimed. "Watching five multicolored heroes fight a giant golden monkey can naturally bring some self-reflection."

"When the Power Rangers came everything changed," Justice spoke. "Something was started, something powerful and slow, but steady. Something my mom was ready for. She prepared her whole life, her entire fortune placed on something that seemed impossible. Something that happened."

"Yes of course," Andrew replied, "I've read her biography. But that doesn't answer my question."

Her empty glass touched the table. "The time of the Power Rangers was great, something you even personally invested in. But I have my eyes on the future. We're about to enter an entirely new era of humanity, and I plan to lead the way."

Suddenly Hartford's phone began to beep. He looked down and frowned. "Well, that's certainly interesting."

* * *

Lisa raised Rylan's morpher and morphed before knocking the White Ranger back with a swing of her sword.

The enemy Ranger groaned and raised her bow, launching two yellow arrows that splashed against Lisa's armor.

It burned but Lisa refused to give in, she raised her sword and pulled it into a defensive stance.

"I don't know who you are but the Enegems aren't moving," Lisa said.

"That's cute," The White Ranger replied.

She raised her bow again, but she was suddenly thrown back by a rush of sparks.

The Green Ranger looked towards Hayley, who just shrugged empty-handed.

stepped in from the doorway, his red-colored Auto Blaster in his hands.

"Sorry for the dramatic entrance," said. "I heard about Rylan and wanted to see him. I wasn't expecting _this_. Not that I should expect anything else, this is all par for the course."

The Ranger Slayer turned towards Justin and fired another arrow, but the man ducked and launched a volley of blue blaster fire that knocked her out the window.

"Damn that was lucky," Justin muttered as the evil Ranger plummeted several stories down. "Not to mention probably not up to code."

Lisa leaned out the window and watched as the Ranger teleported away in a flash of light.

"Thank you," she said to her science teacher with a pistol.

"Lisa?" He asked, then laughed, "I should've expected that honestly."

Lisa then demorphed.

"So you're Justin," Hayley said to Lisa's teacher. "I don't think we've ever met."

He shrugged and rubbed the nape of his neck. "I don't get invited to much. But I know you, Hayley Oliver."

"Well I go to every parent-teacher conference," She replied.

"Yeah," He said, "Small world. Especially here in Angel Grove." He then turned to Lisa. "Wanna go get a coffee, you look like you've got a lot on your mind."

Lisa looked at Rylan then turned back to Justin, "Sure."

* * *

Rocky DeSantos stood at the entrance to the temple in the middle of the desert. He took a deep breath as the memories all flooded back, and he stepped inside.

", I'm pleased to see you." A voice spoke from every corner of the room.

Rocky then felt the presence of the Ninja Master appear from behind him. "But what do you want?"

"My son got seriously injured in a fight," Rocky explained. "I think _this _had something to do with it," Rocky said and held out the Katana.

Ninjor took the blade and examined it. "Hmmm… this is interesting…" The ninja master said. "I'm by no means an expert on Ninja Steel but this blade is extremely impressive. I've only ever seen one like it… unless…" Rocky could feel Ninjor's gaze through his ancient helmet. "Where did this blade come from?"

"My wife," Rocky said, "She was a ninja from the fire academy before it was destroyed."

"So I wasn't mistaken," Ninjor said. "My brother made this sword."

"Do you think that he'd be able to help me with my son?" Rocky asked.

"It's a possibility," Ninjor said. "But you'll have to get to him."

"How hard is that going to be?" Rocky asked.

"The Aether Ninja Academy exists in a rift between time and space. I can teleport you into the pocket dimension but everything else will be up to you."

Rocky nodded, "Sounds like a blast. I'm ready whenever you are."

Ninjor slapped his hands together, "Give my brother my regards."

And Rocky was teleported away.

***1

Kira came back to Gosei's base after a few hours and she found Jace sitting calmly. For once he seemed at peace like all of the stress and existential dread had been washed away.

"Am I interrupting?" Kira asked.

"No," The voice of Gosei boomed. "Jace is merely resting."

"How are you feeling?" She asked the boy.

"Better," He replied as he stood up. "A lot better."

Kira's phone chimed in her pocket. She lifted it and saw she was getting a call from Xander. The two of them had stayed in touch after Mironoi, they'd even shared a couple of drinks while Xander was in town.

"Hey," She said.

"_Are you busy_?" Xander asked. The seriousness in his voice sent chills down her spine.

"No," she replied. "What's up?"

"Something is happening_ at the rock quarry where we fought with the Overdrive Rangers_. _I figured Angel Grove is close to San Anglos so you could check it out._"

"Well actually I'm in Stone Canyon right now," she said. "But I don't think it'll take me long."

"_Great. See you there_." He said and hung up.

Kira then looked at Gosei. "Any chance you can teleport me to San Angelos?"

"That can be arranged," Gosei spoke. "As long as you bring the young Oliver."

Kira looked at Jace for several seconds, she saw the confidence and determination pouring from his being.

"Alright, you're in."

* * *

took a sip of his iced coffee before he spoke. "The feeling you get the first time you put on that suit is one of the best feelings in your life," Justin said. "The second is when it starts getting scary."

"Yeah no kidding," Lisa said and looked down at her frappuccino. "My parents never made it seem so terrifying."

"It's their job to shelter you," Justin said, "Plus I doubt they thought you'd ever become a Ranger."

"I used to dream about it almost every night. It was the only thing I wanted."

"You're preaching to the choir on that one," replied.

"So… what now?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm finally a Power Ranger," Lisa said, "What do I do next?"

"You save the world," Justin said, "I thought that part was obvious."

"But I couldn't even save myself," She said softly, then breathed, "I couldn't even save Rylan."

"You're just starting out," Justin said, "And you haven't had the best introduction either."

"But still-"

"No buts," Justin replied, "Legendary Rangers aren't born overnight. They're forged in the heat of battle." He then stood up.

"Where are we going?" She asked her teacher.

"_I'm_ going to grade some papers," He said, "You're gonna go home and practice, that's the only way to bring out the legendary Ranger you're destined to be." He then paused and smiled, "If you get Jace to come in on Monday I'll give you extra credit on the next quiz."

Lisa then watched leave the building and she finished her coffee in silence.

* * *

This temple seemed different. Instead of something pulled from an Indiana Jones movie this was a massive Japanese temple. Rocky stepped up the stairs, marveling at the architecture as he approached the doors.

The door flew open on its own, and Rocky stepped inside.

Inside the room, Rocky was confronted with three massive stone statues. A lion, a dolphin, and a hawk.

Rocky detected the moment before the figure charged. The air shifted and he moved just in time to dodge the blade.

He raised his morpher and transformed into the MMPR Red Ranger just in time to parry the katana with his Power Sword.

The attacker paused, he was nearly identical to Ninjor, only red and with the insignia of the Wind Ninja Academy on his chest.

"You have to be exceptional to make it to my temple," The warrior said, "But I wasn't expecting a Power Ranger."

The warrior took a step back and bowed. "I am Ninjakon, master of Aether Ninja Academy, where the art of Elemental Ninjutsu was originally invented."

Rocky demorphed and bowed, "I'm Rocky DeSantos. I was sent here by your brother Ninjor. He said you might be able to help me."

"That childish fool admitted I was more suited for a task?" Ninjakon asked with a hint of delight in his voice. "That's rather exciting."

"He told me you might have made this," Rocky said and drew his wife's sword.

"Oh my…" Ninjakon said, "I remember this blade very well. It was a gift to one of my greatest students."

"Well my son got it from his mother," Rocky explained, "And it nearly killed him."

"As would be expected if it fell into the hands of a novice," Ninjakon, "Channeling raw morphing energy can be taxing to the inexperienced."

"Do you think you can help him?" Rocky asked.

"Of course I can," Ninjakon said. "But why should I?"

Rocky paused, "Excuse me?"

"What would leaving the safety of my temple to revive some brat who shouldn't have even been playing with my sword do for me?" He asked.

Rocky was completely dumbfounded by Ninjakon's lack of empathy.

Ninjakon continued to examine the blade, "So he received it from his mother?"

"Yeah," Rocky said, "She was a Ninja from the Fire Academy."

Ninjakon turned to Rocky, "I see…" Ninjakon then turned towards the entrance to the temple. "Take me to the boy."

"For real?"

"Yes for real," Ninjakon replied. "Now come on. I have eternity but that doesn't mean I want to waste it."

* * *

Jace and Kira were teleported to the middle of the quarry. He then noticed the Green Mystic Ranger fighting off a handful of rock creatures.

"Putties?" Kira asked.

"Woah," Jace said, "Talk about retro."

Jace then noticed Revlin and Bandora, who seemed to be scanning the area.

He raised his morpher and transformed, but Kira grabbed his shoulder.

"Attention stays on the Putties first," Kira said.

"Are you serious?" Jace asked, "It's a rocky quarry. What are they gonna do? Fight the rocks?"

"They're fighting our friend," Kira said and pointed towards Xander.

Jace scoffed, "Alright."

Kira seemed pleased enough as she raised her morphed and led the charge, with Jace at her heel.

Her Ptera Grids tore into the chest of the first Putty she saw. Sparks flew from her weapon as a deep gouge was cut into the creature. It made a strange warbling noise and threw its hand which had been molded into a makeshift blade into her side. She ignored the sparks and decapitated the creature with a swift scissoring motion.

Jace used Saba to knock one of the Putties attacking Xander away from the Green Mystic as he rushed to the Ranger's aid.

"Thanks," The Green Ranger said and raised his weapon.

"Don't mention it," Jace said and parried one of the Putty's knife jabs. "Just following orders."

"So what do you think they're after?" Kira asked Xander.

"I can't say for sure," he replied, "They just appeared and started… prancing around."

"They're a distraction!" Jace exclaimed before rushing past them and towards the two villains.

"Are you stupid?" Kira asked.

Jace ignored her as he rushed towards Bandora. She smiled at him, raising her hand and knocking him back with a wave of dark-colored magic.

Revlin, already transformed into his monster form, raised his blade and charged. "I've been looking forward to the chance to finally dismember you."

The warlord's blade flew towards Jace and he remembered what Gosei had taught him. The sword hit a shield of green energy. He growled and swung harder, breaking the wall as if it were glass.

Jace swallowed the boiling anger at the sight of Bandora's face. He took a breath and allowed the negative emotions to pass. He raised his hand and threw a whirlwind of chaos energy that forced Revlin into a defensive position. Then he primed Saba and charged right for the enemy.

Only to be intercepted by a golden armored freight train.

"Are you serious?" He asked as he pushed against the creature in an attempt to keep its teeth away from his body. "Again?"

Bandora suddenly paused. "This is it," She said looking at an empty spot. "The imprint of his life force remains even now." She closed her eyes as her hands began to glow.

Xander dispatched the last Putty then turned towards the female witch. "Oh, that's not good."

Kira morphed into her Super Dino Mode and flew at the titan mutant. She swooped down and threw it off Jace, giving the Ranger time to recover.

But the beast suddenly paused as its eyes moved towards the darkening sky.

Jace and Kira were equally stunned as the air around them was filled with raw energy and the world was cast in midnight darkness, with only the vague silhouettes remaining. They were all practically swimming in the static as a bolt of red lightning tore across the sky and hit the ground in front of Bandora.

Then a cackle drifted into the air.

"Oh god no…" Kira muttered. "Not him."

"Well that's no way to greet an old friend," The new figure said as the clouds lifted and light returned to the world. The figure's half-human fast was pulled into a gleeful sneer as he raised his Z-Staff at Kira.

"Thrax," Bandora said, "Welcome back."

"Who the hell are you?" He demanded and pointed his staff at Bandora.

"Your half-sister," She said with a smirk. "I brought you back to life so you could join us."

"Join you?" He asked and laughed, "Why should I?"

"Because I am Nemesis," She said, "The ultimate amalgamation of evil."

"Heh, we'll see about that," Thrax said and shot a bolt of red energy.

Bandora raised her hand and deflected the attack. Then Thrax was enveloped in dark energy. He instantly collapsed to his knees. "I think I'm starting to see your point," He muttered through the pain.

Bandora smiled wickedly, "I'm glad."

The four of them teleported away. Leaving Kira and Xander both too stunned to speak.

* * *

Ninjakon stood over Rylan's unconscious body. "The resemblance is uncanny…" He muttered.

"So who's this guy?" Hayley asked.

"Ninjor's brother," Rocky replied, "Just… roll with it."

Hayley nodded as the Ninja Master's hands began to glow with red energy. "He's done a number on his Psychomorph," Ninjakon explained. "If not for the Energem tethering his spirit he'd have already crossed over."

Rocky gulped hard, "Is he going to recover?"

"Of course he is," Ninjakon said, "I'm here to save him."

The ninja's armored hands began to glow with an even more intense crimson hue. The glow then transferred to Rylan, who then started to stir.

"I'm infusing him with my energies," Ninjakon explained. "It'll be enough to rekindle his spirit."

"Thank you," Rocky breathed.

"I'm not doing it for you." The ninja spoke calmly, "I had my suspicions but looking at him only proves it. He's a descendant of my bloodline. And I'm going to take him back with me."

"What?" Rocky exclaimed.

"Well no offense but look at what your guidance has done to him," Ninjakon said.

"He's my son," Rocky retorted. "You can't just take him away."

Rylan stirred again, this time a soft whimper escaped his body.

"He'll awaken soon. In a week I'll be back to retrieve the boy. Enjoy him until then." Ninjakon said and disappeared in a puff of smoke."

* * *

The three warlords all sat on their thrones. Nemesis sat in the center with a smile plastered on her face.

Thrax stretched his legs out and sighed, "Ah it's good to be alive again! And from what you've told me it's a glorious time indeed."

"That's right, cousin," Revlin said, "It's the start of a brand new era. Speaking of that…"

As if on cue a teleportation beam struck the ground in front of the warlords. The Dragon appeared and bowed before Revlin. "To what do we owe this meeting?" Maria asked.

"Quite simple," Revlin replied. "You're fired."

"WHAT?" The Dragon said.

"As I see it now you're all a bunch of dead weight," Revlin said and took a sip of his wine. "Too focused on the Energems and all that."

"But that's why you came here in the first place," The Dragon replied.

Revlin smiled, "Well I've found a new calling, and no offense but having an entourage of Rangers is bad for our new brand."

"I-I don't understand," The Dragon replied.

"Do I have to bust out the crayons?" Revlin asked, "Get lost. Go find someone else to pretend to be loyal to."

Maria screamed out as she morphed and charged towards Revlin with her twin blades raised. But Thrax and Nemesis both blasted her back.

"Oh by the way," Revlin said to the Ranger who had fallen to one knee with smoke rising from her armor. "Keep Scorpio… he's kind of a weirdo."

And the Dragon was teleported from sight.


	10. An Auction to Remember

Helen hated bars. Something about the air, the smell of sawdust, stale beer and filthy bodies. It reminded her less of a place where people gathered and more of a place for animals.

Her situation didn't help much either.

She frowned and tugged on the bracelet strapped to her neck in an attempt to make it more comfortable.

The man in a red jacket with white frills laughed from the side of her. "I'd be careful, that's an Andraisain slave collar. If you play with it too hard it'll blow your head off."

Helen gulped.

The man laughed again, "I'm joking. The worst it'll do is shock you." He said with an air of humor, then continued with, "But I _have_ seen someone shock themselves to death on one of those."

The duo grew silent as they approached a reptilian humanoid sitting alone. The creature used its thin, forked tongue to scoop a roach out of its green drink before downing the rest. It looked at them with its big saucer eyes and hissed happily.

"What can I do for you?"

The man smiled at the lizard, "We're here for a meeting with Lexian."

"Lexian?" The reptile echoed. "His time is very expensive." The lizard grew quiet as it whispered, "Five thousand credits. Unless you have something else to offer…" it's eyes locked firmly on Helen as it's scaly hand inched towards her across the table.

The man at her side moved fast, plunging his dagger down and stabbing its hand to the wooden table.

The creature shrieked but the man chuckled and said, "Now now, this is a gentleman's meeting. And that behavior isn't _gentlemanly._"

He pulled the blade out and whipped the baby blue blood on the corner of the table. Then he dropped the money down.

The lizard looked back with wide, fearful eyes, and nodded. "He's in room 7."

The man nodded and walked off, Helen at his heel.

They found Lexian sitting alone, his red skin almost glowing in the candlelight, and his cigar wafting smoke into the air.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, not bothering to even glance towards them.

"I need a sales list for tomorrow's auction," The man in the red jacket said.

"And who are you to assume entitlement to such valuable information?" Lexian asked.

"Basco," The man said with a cheeky smile, "I'm here on behalf of Barbosa."

"Barbosa?" Lexian asked, turning around in his wheeled chair to allow them to examine his disinterested expression. "He was barred from Onyx years ago."

"And that's why he sent me," Basco replied with a wide grin.

"Well I can't offer you a full item list," Lexian said, "Giving that sort of information to Barbosa would be asking for trouble. But if you tell me what you're looking for, I can tell you whether or not it'll be at tomorrow's sale."

Basco kept his Cheshire smile as he spoke, "I'm hoping your little auction will contain the Omega Morphers."

* * *

Luna didn't sleep well. She hasn't since the battle with Lokar.

When she'd unlocked that power.

It had been brief and terrifying, but also satisfying.

For a moment everything was gone, every emotion erased.

Only pure bliss.

She shivered in her bed and stretched in the silence. She stood up slowly. Maybe a glass of water would clear her mind.

She trudged out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. But frowned when she found Lucius with a glass of Kerovian chocolate milk.

"I don't usually see you up this late," Lucius said. "You good?"

"Yeah," she muttered and grabbed a cold bottle. "I'm fine."

She tried her hardest to leave the room as fast as possible, but by the time it hit her at the doorway she was helpless. "Are you saying you get up this early?"

"Yeah," the newish recruit replied. "Every day."

"...Why?"

"This is when I train," Lucius replied. "It clears my mind and helped me keep focus." His blue eyes locked onto her. "You wanna come?"

She turned back around, "No. Of course not."

Then she rushed back to her room before she could feel her face grow hot.

* * *

After attempting and failing to get back to sleep Luna stepped into the common area, where Agent.O was throwing a brown cloak over his body.

"It's a tradition at this point," he said humorously.

"What are you talking about?" Luna asked.

"We're at Onyx and I'm getting intel and… never mind." He said and reached beside himself and threw Luna a brown cloak."Zedd wants you to come. We need four ears and everybody else is too well known."

"Wait…" she said with a scowl. "Onyx… Don't tell me we're going to that tavern."

Agent.O smiled. "Well, we aren't going for its fish market."

Luna rolled her eyes and took the cloak and they were both teleported down to the dusty planet below.

The two stepped into the chaotic bar, where creatures of all shapes, sizes, and levels of intergalactic clout gathered to drink and conduct business. Luna watched as a small flock of Tenga danced around the crowded tables, sneaking their clawed hands into the pockets of drunken patrons and stealing their shimmering gold coins.

One of the tenga, a battle-worn creature with a missing eye, reached into the jacket of a fearcat who was extremely invested in a game of poker, all of his silver coins pushed forward.

Despite the tension that cloaked the creature it's orange ears still twitched. It whipped around and met the Tenga, who squawked in surprise and fear.

"What did I just catch you doing?" the feline asked.

"N-nothing," The tenga exclaimed, "Your jacket was crooked, I was just fixing it for you."

"Sure," The fearcat, "Y'know I think your kind shouldn't be allowed here unless you're plucked and stuffed and steam-"

There was a loud bang, one powerful enough to wake even the most slumped drunk, and the fearcat fell dead.

Everyone turned to the source of the bullet, the smoking gun. The blue sea angle-like alien formed a smile on its black face which was nearly concealed by the shadow of his massive hat like growth on his head. "He was slowing the whole game down," the alien said simply.

Everyone shrugged, and his coins were quickly gobbled up by the other players like breadcrumbs by hungry seagulls.

"Lovely place," Agent.O muttered under his breath. "I was here when it was first built, and it looks just as run down a thousand years later."

"What were you doing when it was first built?" Luna asked.

"A time-traveling gangster went back in time to outbid its original buyer," Agent.O said with a smile, "It was one of my first missions as a Time Agent."

"How'd that go?" Luna asked.

"Pretty easy actually," Agent.O said, "The original highest bidder just killed the gangster and the timeline was saved."

"Well I'm done," A man in a red jacket said and threw his cards down, "I'd rather lose my bet then my life." He then stood up with the girl next to him and walked off. As he stepped by he bumped into Agent.O and walked off.

After the duo walked off Agent.O looked down at his hand and unfolded the paper the man had placed there.

"What does it say?" Luna asked.

"He wants us to meet them in their private room in seven minutes," Agent.O said.

"Sounds like a trap," Luna replied.

"I'm sure it is," Agent.O said. "But I'm curious so I'll bite."

The allotted seven minutes passed and the two of them headed towards the room. The hallway was empty, a vast and uncomfortable contrast to the rest of the tavern.

Agent.O penetrated the purple privacy curtain first, with Luna close behind.

The room smelled of rich, choking, cologne, and the eyes took a second to adjust to the dusky light.

And only trouble came once they did.

"I know you're a Ranger," The man said with his flintlock pointed at Agent.O.

"What gave that away?" The former Time Agent asked.

"The brown cloak obviously," the man replied. "But that's an aside. I didn't bring you here on any ill will."

"What do you want?" Agent.O asked in a stern voice.

"If you're a Ranger that means you're here for _something_, more than likely something going on auction. So since our goals are similar, there's no reason we shouldn't try to work together instead of against each other."

Luna looked anxiously towards the gun, then towards Agent.O, who kept an emotionless gaze from underneath his hood.

At that moment, Luna couldn't help but notice the way that the man secretly watched her. His brown almond eyes seeming to size her up.

"Alright," Agent.O finally said and took the jacket man's left hand.

* * *

The plan was simple. It was crazy but it was simple, at least.

The auction was already in full swing. Aliens from across the universe frantically snarled and bid for various bits of technology, weapons, and Galaxy Warrior memorabilia.

Meanwhile, Luna and the female companion of the man in the red jacket, Helen, stood to the side of the affair.

Patiently waiting.

_"This is crazy!"_ Agent.O echoed in her mind. "_Why can't we just bid normally?"_

Luna spotted them among the crowd, their black suits and their trilbys that covered all of their pale faces except for their sinister smile. Kuros.

"_Not with Zamigo and_ _his goons,"_ the man in the red jacket, Basco, explained back. _"If they're here the auction is rigged._"

A holofoil Galvanax card was quickly passed down to a blue-skinned alien who was practically foaming from its tusked mouth.

"So," Helen asked softly. "Are _you _a Power Ranger?"

"I'm not, but some of us are" Luna replied after a moment's hesitation. "We aren't a Ranger team, just a ship crew with a couple of Rangers on deck."

"I see…" Helen replied as her head turned to the ground.

Luna eyed Helen carefully, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she replied softly and stretched her neck. "Just curious…"

Then Luna spotted the collar, and things were beginning to click…

"That's a slave collar, isn't it?"

Helen's hand instantly flew to the device and her pale face flushed red.

"My father, Tyzon, told me stories about the Power Rangers and how they rescue people in need," she shook her head. "I got ahead of myself…"

Luna looked at the girl for several tense seconds. Then she made her choice. She placed her hand on Helen's shoulder and said, "Just because I'm not a Ranger doesn't mean I can't save you."

Right after she spoke a silence settled over the entire tavern. The pig-faced auctioneer let the atmosphere fester and absorb into the crowd before he continued. "Now… it's time for the moment everyone has been waiting for. Salvaged from the wreckage of an ancient battle, we have one of the most sought after artifacts on this side of the galaxy," he then took a deep breath and pulled the sheet off the purple silk pillow the object rested on. "We have the Omega Morphers."

For a brief moment, the silence continued, then chaos as the auction began.

Luna watched carefully as bidding continued. She remembered what Basco had said, and as dumb as the plan sounded to her. An order was still an order.

Halfway through the aggressive bidding, a hand slowly raised. The icey blue hand of Zamigo.

"Five-Hundred Thousand credits!" The auctioneer exclaimed.

"Six-Hundred!"

"Seven!"

"Do I hear eight? Eight-Hundred thousand credits."

Luna felt a twist of anxiety, but by the time she could begin to overthink it, it was already too late.

So she raised her hand. "One million credits!" She exclaimed.

Silence fell over the tavern, and Luna could see the cluster of Kuro whispering among each other.

Zamigo laughed, "One million credits? What did you do? Sell an entire star cruiser?" The alien cowboy jumped up and moved through the crowd towards the redhead and her blonde companion. His yellow eyes peered past his black face as he gazed at Luna with the yellow appendages on his chest twitching and moving. "Don't take this personally, I just don't see how a little _heifer _like you could have that kind of money."

"M-my dad was a wealthy aristocrat who passed on his fortune," Luna muttered.

Zamigo was about to respond, but that was when the figure finally abruptly entered the tavern.

The Green Ranger, with his white pistol, pointed forward. "Under intergalactic law, this establishment is under investigation!"

In most places, an outburst like this would be met with panic and chaos, but Onyx was on the edge of the galaxy and under no real intergalactic jurisdiction.

So everyone with a gun and a hatred of cops raised their blasters and opened fire.

In a flash, Agent.O's Time Force training kicked in. He jumped back outside and popped in every few seconds to shoot his pistol into the room.

One of his blasts struck a bargoer in the shoulder, sizzling and sending the smell of cooked flesh into the air.

"Glad to know he keeps his blaster off stun," Luna muttered.

But her attention wasn't able to be directed towards the firefight for very long. While everyone was locked in the duel Basco rushed out of his hiding spot and charged at the Morpher.

"Hey!" The pig-faced auctioneer exclaimed as Basco approached the artifact.

The flamboyant man merely sighed and shot the auctioneer in the head, grabbing the Morphers before the auctioneer's body could hit the ground.

Luna then looked at Helen and grabbed her hand before whispering, "This is our chance."

She tugged on Helen's hand, but the girl didn't move.

"Come on," Luna whispered to the girl, "This is our chance to get out of here before he notices."

Helen frowned and her eyes flashed a longing hurt that sunk Luna's stomach.

"I'm really sorry for this," Helen muttered and sprang forward before Luna could register the movement, and snapped a metal band across her neck.

Luna's hands flew to the device on her neck and she froze with terror.

"I'm so sorry…" Helen muttered. "I have to do what Basco says or else he'll kill me."

Luna nodded gravely, despite every ounce of her being wanted to fight back the weight of the collar sat heavily on her neck.

So she followed Helen towards the back exit.

Basco met them with a cheeky smile several paces away from the back door.

"Don't worry about your Ranger friend," Basco said to Luna. "He's too busy to notice us leaving."

"But I'm not," another voice, this one accompanied by a southern drawl. "And I know what you're trying to mosey off with."

"Ahh Zamigo," Basco said a bow. "I've heard plenty about you."

"And you, Vasco, I've heard nothing. But since you're here on behalf of Barbossa I knew to keep my eyes on you," from behind the black-faced cowboy several of his Kuros raised their tommy guns and pointed them at the trio.

"First off its Basco," the man said as his pistol flew through the air and blasted all of the Kuro back with deadly precision directed by a lazy wave. "Secondly I'm leaving," and he lunged forward, slashing his dagger across Zamigo's chest, tearing flesh and splattering green blood across the dusty floor.

Luna then grabbed hold of a shellshocked Helen the two swiftly followed suit.

* * *

For a moment there was nothing to Agent.O but the heat of the battle. The world melted away, replaced with a sharp and slow parody, his blaster fire the only way to keep the time.

Bodies fell one by one, slowly, tediously, just like pulling teeth.

Time Force had prepared him for such statistic defying odds. He was a secret agent, sent into dangerous places with no backup.

This was his zone.

He smiled to himself as he remembered what Alex, the director of the Agent program had said to him.

_"You may be a clone of Tommy Oliver, but you dwarf him in talent. He was a legend, forged by the fires of war. But you are a weapon, all of his raw potential was brought to its fullest with you."_

By then the number of people in the bar had greatly diminished, the crumpled bodies were simply danced over or even stepped atop of. But still, they all continued their assault.

And Agent.O accepted that.

Suddenly there was a flash of bright light, and Agent.O blinked as he found himself back on Zedd's ship.

"You trigger happy soldier!" Zedd screamed in the same raspy voice Agent.O remembered from his time before Time Force. "You-you…"

He paused for a moment and Agent.O replied. "Why'd you teleport me back? Luna's still in there."

Zedd's face flushed red and he turned around to mutter some obscene profanity.

"You were set up," Deluca explained somberly. "Barbosa's man took the Omega Morphers and Luna."

Agent.O felt his stomach freeze solid, he'd known it was a trap but he'd let the drums of war distract his mind.

"Do you know where they went?" Agent.O asked.

"They've been teleported to Basco's ship," Zedd grumbled with his fists clenched.

"Why don't we just teleport after them?" Agent.O suggested.

"Their ship is blocking every teleportation signal but their own, which is encrypted harder than any of us can crack."

Just as a hopeless silence threatened the room Finster appeared with his pilot goggles resting on his furry forehead. "We're getting a transmission from Onyx." He exclaimed.

"Patch them through,' Zedd replied as he turned towards the monitor on the wall.

The screen flashed to life and the black colored face of Zamigo appeared.

"Which one of you yellow-bellied bounty hunters sent that Ranger, guns blazin', into my auction?" The cowboy asked.

"That would be me," Zedd spoke up. "Captain Zedd of The Redemption."

"Well I don't care who you are," Zamigo spat. "But the way I see it, he's got your crewmate, and he's got _my_ morphers. So maybe we can work somethin' out."

Zedd cracked a tiny smile, "I think that could be arranged."

* * *

Luna sat in silence, her mind was a million different places, darting around every psychological corner it could frantically and fearfully.

Her hands jumped to the collar for the millionth time, and her stomach shrank.

"You get used to it," Helen said from the other side of the room they shared, atop the flat cot. "Or at least that's what I'm holding out for."

"How long have you been a slave?" Luna asked the girl.

"A few months," She replied, "My planet was attacked by Barbossa during the Praetor's assault. Ever since then I've been with Basco as his servant. I know it could be worse as a slave… but still."

"You don't have to be positive about it," Luna said with a scowl. "This sucks."

"What about you though?" Helen asked, presumably to change the subject. "How'd you get wrapped up in all of this?"

"I was born into it," Helen said with a tiny smirk. "My dad used to be Lord Zedd before the Z-Wave. This is just the path he took after."

Helen looked at Luna silently for a few moments, no doubt thinking of the countless horror stories she'd heard of Lord Zedd "How does that feel?" She finally asked. "To have a dad with so much baggage?"

"Well here's the thing," Luna said darkly. "I inherited this power from my dad, but he was purified by Zordon's sacrifice…" her mind flashed back to her dreams. Where her skinless body arced with electricity. "Mine wasn't."

"That's no reason to be afraid," Helen said. "Powers are just powers, it's up to you how they're used."

Before the concept could be expanded the ship was suddenly thrown into chaos as its velocity was immediately halted.

"What the hell was that?" Luna asked.

Helen looked around frantically but before she could speak Basco's voice came through the ship's comms. "_It seems that our friend Zamigo has blocked our path with his ship. Don't worry though, I'm locking a proton missile as we-_"

An aggressive shock vibrated around them and the outside of the ship above their heads was rapidly pounded for several seconds before a jagged blade poked through.

"Nuh-uh," Luna said with a smirk.

At first, Helen looked towards the intruder with a terrified expression, but it shifted to confusion when she saw how excited Luna appeared.

The swords cut a large enough chunk in the metal for a figure to descend into the ship, and Lucius appeared with his Sword of Darkness in hand. The brown-haired boy in leather armor formerly given to him by the Praetor offered a grin. "The ship might have a teleportation shield but it couldn't stop a prob ship."

Behind Lucius came Luna's dad, who looked like a kid who just won an Xbox through a fruit snack contest as he embraced his daughter.

He pulled away and noticed the collar attached to her neck. His smile fell. "We can't have that," he said and snapped his fingers. Both of their collars fell to the ground, sparking with red lightning before completely deactivating.

"Now," He said and turned to Helen. "Where is the command console?"

Helen stared blankly at the man in front of her, the former warlord in a cardigan, then blinked back into reality. "It's in Basco's room."

"Of course," Lucius muttered. "I was hoping we could do this without conflict."

"How un-warrior-like of you," Zedd replied with a sideways smile.

"Whatever," Lucius said and morphed into his purple armor. "Let's just make this quick."

The four of them made their way down to the closed metal door that led to Basco's living quarters. Zedd zapped the lock pad and the door slid open.

Basco stood waiting, his blaster already pointed towards the group,

"It would be naive to assume this is the first mutiny I've had to disband," He said with a look of disgust. In a burst of crimson flames, the man's human body transformed. His new form was clad in black and red leather armor with golden skulls on the shin guards and shoulder pads. His face was concealed with a faceplate that covered his face up to his crimson eyes. He knocked everyone but Lucius off their feet with a rush of energy and charged forward with his cutlass in hand.

"I think I prefer this form," Lucius said as they connected blades. "It'll make me feel better about punching your face in."

"Lucius, the Knight of Darkness," the pirate warrior said, "I've heard of you. It's a shame to see you fall into such poor company after the death of the Praetor."

"I'm in better company than I was with the Praetor," Lucius replied.

"That's what they want you to think," he said, "But both are holding you back. If you can wield that sword and stay true to yourself you can do so much more. You can engross yourself in the Chaos Energy. Look at me, I've become a vessel, given it full access to myself and my spirit. You could easily do the same."

Lucius had enough of that, and with a powerful swing, he slashed into the enemy, shooting sparks from his armor and knocked him back several steps.

Meanwhile, Luna shot up and realized this would be the perfect time to act. If she could sneak past the two battling it would be easy to deactivate the shield. If only she knew how…

Still, Helen might know. But when she turned towards where Helen landed the spot was totally empty

Well not _totally_ empty, she realized with even more confusion, because she saw Helen's clothes completely discarded.

It was then that her eyes caught something glimmering in the light beyond the two armored warriors. It seemed to be moving with an intelligence of its own, moving to the console in the corner of the room before beginning to shift and move.

_Reforming_ Luna realized as the shape the shimmering metallic liquid took the form of a human.

"Ah a Mercurian," Her father said with an amused tone. "Their bodies are made of organic mercury that they can manipulate."

With a mischievous smile across her face, she keyed a few buttons on the console and turned to Luna.

"It's gone!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Basco exclaimed as he turned towards Helen. The wires connected in the pirate's brain as he raised his gun and exclaimed, "You conniving brat!"

His finger twitched across the trigger, but before he could press it there was a beam of bright light that materialized into several forms between them.

"Howdy partner," Zamigo said as he appeared with his entourage of Kuro. "You thought you could be slick and slide right under my nose. But yer square dancing with the wrong cowboy."

Basco swore loudly in his native tongue as he looked at the several tommy guns aimed at his head. Then he moved fast. He turned behind himself and grabbed the first body he could.

Luna screamed as his bulky arm wrapped around her midsection. He'd been too fast for her to even register before it was too late. Electric fear pulsed through her body as he pointed her at Zamigo.

"You wouldn't want to harm a red hair on her gorgeous head would you?" Basco spat at the blue cowboy.

"The only annoyin thing about that would be wastin twice the bullets to kill you," Zamigo said with a shrug.

"Gee thanks," Luna muttered before she was silenced by the cold tickle of a blade pressed against her throat.

"What about you guys then?" Basco asked her dad and company, "Are you going to watch her die?"

A sharp fear tore through Luna. Basco wasn't saying it but the pirate was growing increasingly desperate, and that was going to make him increasingly reckless.

She saw her father attempting to think of a plan, but before one could be created Lucius sprang forward with his Sword of Darkness.

Basco then released the arm around Luna's waist to raise his gun and blasted the Purple Ranger's helmet with a clean and precise energy shot. His visor shattered as he fell back.

A mixture of fear and other fiery emotions pulsed through Luna's body, "Lucius you dumbass!" She exclaimed as her body suddenly ignited with electricity. Basco was thrown back from the force of energy and crashed into the wall.

Helen then rushed towards the case that contained the Omega Morphers and scooped it up. "Everyone hold tight!" She said as she jumped back to the teleported and hit a few keys.

Then everyone was enveloped in light.

* * *

Basco blinked several times as his eyes readjusted to the world after the blinding light. The Rangers were gone, Helen was gone, and the Omega Morphers were gone.

"Well, that was mighty dirty of'em," Zamigo muttered.

"No kidding," Basco said as his body pulsed with raw rage.

He looked at the cowboy and his posse, his grip on his sword and his gun tightened.

They weren't who he'd prefer to slaughter but they'd have to do.

* * *

As Helen found solid ground on the ship the metal case began to glow in her grasp.

"Ah I see," Deluca said with sparkling eyes as she approached.

Luna hardly registered anything for a moment, her eyes fell towards Lucius who had since demorphed and collapsed into the first seat he could find.

Deluca opened the box, and one of the four golden devices poured yellow light. "The Omega Morpher has chosen you."

"Who?" Helen asked and looked around then paused with a frown. "Me?"

"That's right," she said with a motherly nod. "Do you choose to accept it? To counter evil as the Yellow Ranger?"

Helen nodded excitedly, "Of course I do!"

"What does that mean?" Lucius asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luna asked sarcastically with a frown. "My dad wasn't collecting the Omega Morphers to throw them on a shelf." She said as she looked down at her own hands, still feeling the phantom tingle of her volatile power, "He's building a team of Power Rangers."

She then stood up, finding her feet despite the fact her entire body was quickly growing numb. She thought about what Helen said, about powers neither being good or bad, and decided on a choice to make.

Even though it made her cringe.

"You said that training helps you stay calm, right?" She asked Lucius.

He smiled, "Usually, y'know when my friends aren't in danger."

"Could I join you next time?"


End file.
